The Danube is one of the most romanticized rivers in the
world. It is Europe’s second-longest
river--only the Volga is longer. It
passes through ten countries before emptying into the Black Sea. Eighteen islands lay in the flow of the
Danube, one such island is Csepel (“CHE-pel”) in Hungary. It is a unique island in that it was once the
highly industrialized center of Budapest, the country’s capital. Budapest is in itself a unique place. If you like hills and castles try Buda, if
you like flat land and nightlife then Pest is for you. The city is two cities in one,
bisected by the Danube. Together, the
capital is quickly becoming one of Europe’s fastest growing financial
centers. It is the home of the European
Institute of Innovation and Technology.
In between all of this is Csepel.
For bicycle buffs Csepel is an important piece of
history. Today, many eastern Europeans
fondly remember the “Superla,” a bike born and bred on the island of
Csepel. The machine came off the line at
the huge Csepel Steel and Metal Works factory.
Prior to a post-war state takeover, the plant was known as the Manfred
Weiss Steel and Metal Works, built in 1837.
In 1928 the facility shifted some of its production away from munitions
to bicycles. The bikes were known as
“Csepels.”
These bikes were classic cruisers with big seats, no gears and
coaster brakes. The pre-war company sold
them at a brisk pace only to see production skyrocket during the war as armies
realized the moving power of soldiers on bikes was much more efficient than
soldiers on foot. In 1945 the factory
was destroyed by numerous bombing raids.
After the war a new Hungary was on the world stage and a new state-owned
and operated factory was built. In no
time at all Csepel bikes were back and were being exported to all parts of the
world—Holland, United States, Canada, England, Switzerland, even Iran and
Egypt. At any given time the factory
held 20,000 completed bicycles ready for shipment (this provides some insight
as to the sheer mammoth size of the plant).
It was the largest bicycle manufacturing facility in the world.
During the 1960s the plant saw some of it best production
numbers, producing well over a quarter of a million bikes annually. The company built a number of cruiser bike
varieties with the “Road King” being a favorite of many buyers.
The fall began in the 1980s.
With the Iran-Iraq war at full tilt for most of the decade exports of
Csepel bikes to Iran ceased. The company
could not afford to lose any export business as they, like other long time bike
builders, suffered competition woes caused by the boom in Asian lightweight bicycles. Customers were leaving the cruiser in favor
of the racer.
With the fall of the Iron Curtain came privatization. In 1989, Schwinn purchased a 51% interest in
the Csepel Iron and Metal Works.
Bankruptcy came in 1993 when Schwinn dissolved. Other investors tried to make a go of the
large plant and its resources but it was shuttered for good in 2003. Like other countries, today Hungary imports
frames from China and then handles assembly.
But the old plant remains and Hungary has big plans for the
place as it will be converted to a recreation destination to include
restaurants and nightlife all accessible by bicycle. And cycling technology is not dead in Hungary
as the wildly inventive “Stringbike” continues to be refined by a revived and much smaller
Scwhinn-Csepel company (more on that in a future post). Visit our website at
www.stickybottleteam.net.
 |
| Exterior |
 |
| Interior |
No comments:
Post a Comment