Globally, the Bicycling magazines goal is to reflect the bikers lifestyle and also to encourage

even more people to use bikes in their everyday lives. But, in Brazil, bikers face a powerful

barrier: high taxes. Over 70% of bike prices in Brazil are comprised of taxes, while furniture,

close to 12%. If you look outside Brazil, things are different. In England, bike taxes are close

to 20%. In Germany, 19%. In the U.S., around 8%.

To surpass that barrier, a magazine cover just wouldn't do. We needed a powerful way to

show how high these taxes really are. We needed a symbol.

We created the Outlaw Bike, a bike that pretends to be another product so it pays less

taxes.

It can be assembled both as a bike and as furniture. When assembled as a bike: 70% taxes.

When assembled as furniture: only 12%. Is built with the same parts and the same

materials, it's just put together differently. A small difference that makes all the difference.

After presenting our bike, we asked bikers and bike lovers just one thing: get off their asses

off and do something about it.

First we hired frame builder and bike designer Denis Cardoso to create this one-of-a-kind

bike. His assignment anything but simple: to develop a bike that can be disassembled and

assembled as furniture using the same parts and materials.

There were lots of challenges in the process. He had to custom design and produce every

part, since regular bike parts wouldn't work as a chair. The only exception are the bike

saddle and crown. Choosing the material was another important decision, since the

materials had to make for a resistant bike as well as a comfortable chair. After much

research, the designer settled on 3 main materials: wood, leather and steel.

Our goal was to create a fully functional bike and a contemporary furniture set.

For the showcasing, two bikes were created.

Since its launch in April, over 695.000 people have been directly impacted by the Outlaw

Bike, in the magazines website and at several bike stores. Through e-mail marketing, over

70.000 people were reached. The next step is an article in the print version of the

magazine, which comes out mid May. Besides that, TV media outlets have asked the bike for

their own pieces. Politicians are joining the discussion and so far, the response was 100%

positive and the bike has ignited a desire for tax reform among Brazilians.