LOS ANGELES (BRAIN) — Longtime Dahon general manager Pete Mole, who is also credited as the creator of the first muscle bike, died in mid-September days after suffering a stroke. He was 88.
Mole's association with bikes stretches back to his parents' days in vaudeville, where they performed bicycle stunts. His father, Peter Sr., also sponsored bike races around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, said Monte Smetherman, operations manager at Dahon North America.
Mole joined Southern California bicycle distributor John T. Bill Co. in 1954. It was here where Mole contacted Huffy in 1962 about manufacturing a 20-inch-wheeled bike with a banana seat and high-rise bars exclusively for John T. Bill Co. The Huffy Penguin reached retailers in March 1963, just predating the Schwinn Sting-Ray and "making Peter Mole the true father of the Sting-Ray style," according to the website Huffy History & Museum.
He retired from John T. Bill Co. in 1987, but was lured back to the industry after Dr. David Hon personally recruited him to promote Dahon folding bikes to IBDs as general manager. He eventually grew the company's U.S. retail base to 1,200 dealers.
"Pete was the kind of guy who just was very humble and didn't want credit. He had a great sense of humor and was a really caring guy. He just loved the bike business," said Dahon's Smetherman.
"He was so full of life. He always had a joke or story to tell. Dealers would call here and they'd all want to talk to Pete because he'd have something for them," he added. Mole retired as general manager in 2010 but continued with Dahon as a "goodwill ambassador" until this past June.
In a handwritten note announcing his 2010 retirement, Mole stated: "I have seen the bicycle change appearance and design many times in the last 50 years. The only thing that remains and has not changed is that the wheels are still round."
