About MAD
MAD Bicycles MAD Bicycles is an extraordinary brand, born out of passion for creating. Started in a basement in Podlasie, in Eastern Poland, developed in a garage, it has become one of the biggest design & manufacturing studios of custom designer bikes in Europe. And probably in the world.
The bikes we create truly have souls. They are made for people with unique personalities and needs. Each new bicycle gives his owner a sense of uniqueness and admiration in the eyes of others. Therefore we are not afraid to take up challenges. Over the last ten years we have given the term "custom-made" a completely new and more personal meaning.
We are pioneers in what we do. Paving the way for others, we prove that the impossible is actually possible. We specialize in designing new solutions, in making glow-in-the-dark, gold-plated, electric, tangled, reverse, special-needs-aimed and designer bikes. Simply put – we make dreams come true.
We take individual orders for muscle-powered and electric vehicles. These are mainly made-to-measure city bikes, rickshaws and other utility vehicles. We have established ourselves and gained recognition by representing a unique niche. Each finished bike is a great achievement for us, and making our countrymen proud gives us a sense of mission. We are an example that Poles can create beautiful and functional products and gain recognition overseas. In 2019 we managed to win the most important award in the niche of custom bikes at the international exhibition OBC CruiserCon in Las Vegas. "All the way from Poland" - that’s how they call us out overseas.
Freedom is our greatest value. We try to share the feeling of having a special bike in order to meet our customer’s and fan’s needs. MAD custom bicycles allow you to experience the extraordinary - the process of creating, owning and riding an amazing bike. The designer interprets the client's needs to create a cohesive work of art. Our customers get the opportunity to free their imagination as our personalized pieces redefine the freedom of choice.
MAD BICYCLES’ HIGHLIGHTS
Every completed custom bike project is our company’s success.
In addition, our milestones include:
- two bikes made for Slash - the guitarist of Guns N' Roses
- bikes for polish celebrities such as Aleksander Milwiw-Baron, Michał Szpak
- the Best One Off Radical Custom Bicycle award at the international exhibition in Las Vegas in 2019
- Podlaskie Brand of the Year 2018 award
- creating the world's first bike out of ice
- numerous appearances on Polish television with MAD Bicycles
- implementation of the project "AchoBike - bicycle for people of particularly short stature" subsidized by European Union funds
1. What is dwarfism?
Short stature, is also known as growth hormone deficiency. To assess a person's height, centile grids are used to help determine the correctness of growth. It is defined as height below certain values on centile grids and it affects 3% of the population.
Child growth hormone deficiency in many cases is found quite late, when the child already attends a nursery or kindergarten. In many cases, parents begin to notice the problem not until school stage, when their child's height significantly differs from his classmates’.
2. Dwarfism causes
Dwarfism can be caused by various factors.
In particular, they can be:
· Genetic causes – achondroplasia, familial short stature, Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, hypochondroplasia, inborn metabolic diseases.
· Nutritional causes – caloric or protein malnutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies (zinc, iron, calcium, vitamin D).
· Hormonal causes – hypothyroidism, precocious puberty, hypercortisolemia (Cushing's disease and syndrome), isolated growth hormone deficiency, primary insulin-like growth factor deficiency.
· Causes associated with other diseases – inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, visceral disease, cystic fibrosis, malabsorption syndrome, chronic kidney, heart or liver disease.
3. Diagnostics of growth deficiency
The diagnosis of growth deficiency is based on the use of centile grids, which determine the ratio of height to weight. In the case where the child differs from certain norms, it is necessary to perform additional tests. Medical diagnosis is usually preceded by the following: laboratory tests, bone X-ray and other tests.
4. Treatment of growth deficiency
Treatment of significantly short stature depends on its cause.
In the case of achondroplasia, we can distinguish surgical treatment, pharmacological treatment and the most common treatment through rehabilitation. Achondroplasia is related to the specific structure of the skeleton - the bones of patients are much shorter than those of healthy people, making them reach a maximum height of 130 centimeters. The greatest complaints for those affected by this condition (including pain) are associated with degenerative conditions of the spine and knee joints. Since the patients’ muscular system is normally developed, they can participate in rehabilitation aimed at strengthening the vertical axis structures of the body.
For this condition, rehabilitation is the most essential form of treatment applied from the age of three. A great help is the use of appropriate rehabilitation equipment.
Treatment of dwarfism in the course of celiac disease is treatment of the underlying disease, celiac disease, that is, a strict gluten-free diet. If the short stature is caused by hypothyroidism, one of the thyroid hormones is often recommended.
Therapy of short stature is based not only on the administration of appropriate drugs, but also on rehabilitation, the use of a specific diet, rich in protein, fats, minerals and vitamins.
However, short stature does not always mean a disease. Most short people are healthy, requiring no medical intervention. However, dwarfism can sometimes be a serious problem for the affected person. Significantly short stature can lead to a sense of low self-esteem, as well as hinder daily life - preventing the use of many devices, vehicles such as typical bicycles. The search for tailor-made solutions for people of non-standard height is extremely important in the context of taking care of the quality of their daily life and equalizing social opportunities.
Creating made-to-measure bicycles
The MAD Bicycles design studio creates bicycles manufactured to the needs of their owners. Art pieces created here come out ahead of any bicycle projects. We also have extensive experience in creating models that are tailored to the height of the users and the length of their limbs. We create our bikes after consultation with the future owner. Such pieces are called custom bikes, custom bicycles, personalized bicycles - regardless of the name, all of them by definition are made to measure. We take a similar approach in the case of bicycles for little people. However, with proper designing methods and optimization of the measurement process, we were able to create 3 models of bicycles tailored to the height of the broadest group possible. These include children from the age of three to adults of any age. Our bikes are a response to the market gap formed by the lack of bicycles for people who do not fit into the standard centile grid.
R&D Work
Due to the growing number of questions regarding bicycles for little people, the MAD Adam Zdanowicz company reached for EU funds granted by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development in the form of Vouchers for Innovation. We were very enthusiastic to learn that the voucher had been awarded, and we commissioned the Institute of Innovation and Technology of the Bialystok University of Technology to carry out R&D work to develop bicycles dedicated to people with short stature. The Institute, in cooperation with specialists in the field of mechanics, developed 3 models of bicycles that are dedicated to different age and height groups. Endurance tests, environmental interviews and end-users tests have led to the creation of innovative products that meet the requirements of most people of significantly short stature. We are proud to say that this is the first bicycle project of such type in Poland and probably in the whole world. The final form of this project’s conclusions, is available for purchase. We are convinced that it will change your life.
Innovation Voucher for SMEs
The MAD Adam Zdanowicz company has implemented the project No. POIR.02.03.02-20-0036/20 entitled. "AchoBike - Bicycle for people with dwarfism" subsidized under the Inteligent Development Operational Program, Priority Axis 2 - Supporting the environment and potential of enterprises to carry out R&D&I activities, Action 2.3 Pro-innovative services for enterprises, Sub-action 2.3.2 Innovation Vouchers for SMEs.
The story behind the AchoBike
Why did we start manufacturing bicycles for little people in the first place?
The MAD company was founded to make dreams of exceptional people come true, but the real breakthrough in our business came actually by accident. In 2019, we were approached by the parents of Oskar, who was born with Achondroplasia. They were looking for a solution to their problem, as they could not buy a bike for their six-year-old son anywhere. None of the bicycles available in the stores matched the boy's body dimensions. They needed a tailor-made model that would let them to go on trips together.
We love challenges and we love solving problems, so we created a prototype bike for Oskar. After that, parents of more children started reporting to us, and we realized that a new branch of our company had just been created. Founding the company 10 years ago, Adam Zdanowicz didn't think that in addition to designer bicycles for whimsical customers, he would ever be involved in bicycles for little people. The desire to create new forms of bicycles and to help those in need eventually led him to obtain funding for a research and development project called "Achobike - a bicycle for people with dwarfism."
