Itera – the plastic bicycle

1981-1985

This innovative plastic bicycle generated a huge amount of press. It was expected to revolutionize the Swedish bicycle industry. The bike was launched with the slogans »We’re pedalling out of the Iron Age!« and »The eternal machine – made of the same material as space ships.« However, the plastic construction was not sturdy nough, which caused the bike to wobble. The bicycle ended up costing twice as much as planned since the manufacturing costs turned out to be much higher than expected. The Itera goes down in history as one of Sweden’s largest flops. Piles of unsold bikes were buried. But in one way it actually has become eternal – as an attractive collector’s item after the opening of the Museum of Failure. 

Additional info: (sorry only in Swedish, Google Translate might help)
Västerbottens-Kuriren – Plastcykeln som skulle frälsa Vilhelmina
Sportfack – Cykeln som Sprack

Unboxing video with horrible soundtrack: