In recent video on youtube there was small wheel bicycle shown for a moment, from what I got in answer for my question it is Rog Pony. Could you provide more information about it? Is it from soviet era? It is interesting for me that it looks very similar to Polish Romet Wigry from soviet times. You can see some photos here: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romet_Wigry
Rog Pony
- Thread starter pineapple_thief
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Hello and welcome.
That is a great question. Fun fact:
The day we were filming the video, I talked to my friend Gox (who does the camera work) about that bicycle. The bike in the video is about 50 years old and has seen three generations of cyclists. During its lifetime, it had the frame welded by adding a horizontal tube (when the folding system had failed), and a new set of pedals a few years ago. That's it!
It is the pinnacle of reasonable bicycle design:
A small frame (small wheels) bicycle that can even be folded, but with saddle and handlebars designed so that it can fit people from 150 to 200 cm of height.
It was 100% made in the Socialist Federate Republic of Yugoslavia - a country that was decades ahead of its time so to speak (and was tragically destroyed). The design was to make it cheap to mass produce, easy to transport, and practical for people to use it as a means of transport.
No person my age (or older) grew up in my city without having ridden at least one Pony.
When I was a kid, BMX bikes were popular (American films and videos among other things), but Pony was often regarded as a more classic, more refined option that was still the first pick for many people (and kids - including me
).The highest quality Pony was made in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, by the Rog company. However, many other Yugoslav bicycle factories made such models, most notably:
- Partizan (from Serbia, Belgrade)
- Unis (Vogošća, near Sarajevo, Bosnia) - I had a red one (gift from my grandmother) and rode it until it died.
- Rog (already mentioned, Ljubljana, Slovenia) - my father had a blue one that was stolen.
Higher quality compared to Unis, that's a fact.
The bike in the video was made by Rog (Gox will correct me if I got it wrong), and its current rider prefers to keep it in its original paint (which I wholeheartedly support as it's beautiful, despite or thanks to being rustic now).
It definitely looks very much like the Polish Romet Wigry you linked (I didn't know those bikes existed before
).Pony is a local legend (at least among people born before the current century began.
Brings a lot of good memories. Relja