Another early Allen Sled Eventually, he conceived of a sled with runners that were weakened in the middle to act as a hinge to permit the front portion to pivot for steering. This led to the design which became the Flexible Flyer with super steering a sled with a pair of laterally flexible runners attached to the frame in a way that permitted them to be bent sideways to a great extent and with little effort. This permits the runners to flex sideways starting at a point just ahead of the rear struts. A conventional sled lacking this floating crossbar arrangement has runners that can thus only flex forward of the front struts, severely limiting the steering capability of the sled. The Flexible Flyer trademark has proven to have as much lasting value as the Allen patent.
Flyer connotes the speed associated with sledding.
Flexible conveys the unique technical feature of the sled s superior steering. It is hard to imagine a trademark more suited to the product it represents. The Flexible Flyer has remained essentially unchanged in design and construction over the decades. It still features wooden seat slats bearing the distinctive red eagle trademark, wooden steering and handle bars, and steel runners and struts painted bright red. Perhaps the Flexible Flyer trademark has been so strongly associated with the design for so long that the buying public cannot imagine any sled with the patented super steering feature which is not a Flexible Flyer.