Xootr scooters are proudly built and sold by the folks at Xootr
LLC. The members of the Xootr team have created products for
dozens of great companies including Apple Computer,
Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola. We now focus our energies on
designing and manufacturing fun, socially and environmentally
friendly products for our own company. Unlike some businesses out
there, Xootr actually designs and manufactures the products it
sells. There's no smoke and mirrors here, just a desire to
provide the best possible products and service.
The roots of Xootr go back to 1999, when Karl Ulrich, Nathan
Ulrich, and Tom Miner (along with partners Lunar Design and
Cheskin Research, and several other investors) founded Nova Cruz
Products. Nova Cruz designed, manufactured and sold the Xootr
kick scooter, the Xootr eX3 electric scooter, and the Voloci
electric motorbike. Each of these products led the industry,
redefining the categories in which they competed.
The crew at Nova Cruz Products sometime in 2000
In 2003, the owners and financiers of Nova Cruz sold the
business. Fortunately, Karl, Nathan, and Tom were able to buy the
original kick-scooter business from the company's investors and
organized it as Xootr LLC. Thanks to Xootr's loyal customers and
amazing employees, the new company has grown profitably ever
since its formation. The Xootr scooter continues to be unrivaled
as super light, compact urban transport.
In 2004, we at Xootr were seeking ways to expand our business and
began exploring the bicycle category. The Xootr team has always
been passionate about cycling and although the industry appeared
to be quite stagnant, we saw a substantial opportunity for a new
category of bicycle, a bike that would:
- provide excellent performance...a no compromise ride.
- fold into a reasonably compact configuration in less than 10 seconds.
- pack into a suitcase for air travel (with say 15 minutes of effort).
We believed that a no-compromise, go-anywhere bike would be
possible if built around the emerging 406mm wheel standard.
After a chance encounter, Xootr joined forces with Peter
Reich, the Brooklyn-based inventor of the Swift Folder to create
the current Xootr Swift. The Swift is the result of more than a
decade of refinement in the crucible of the New York City cycling
environment. Together, we are able to deliver an elegant,
high-performance product at a price that provides tremendous
value to the customer.
One of our founders (Karl) is a professor and he and his
colleagues use the Xootr scooter as an example in some of their
courses. We provide this factory tour to support these teaching
activities. This is a description of the original Xootr
manufacturing process, reflecting the operations in c2001. The
supply network today is a bit more complex, but the basic design
and manufacturing of the scooter have not changed much since then
.
Xootr Factory Tour
