Innovation Lab 2015 round-up

This year’s London Bike Show incorporated the BikeBiz-backed Innovation Lab for the first time. Missed the six innovations that graced the Lab? Here’s a round-up…

Video round-up:

Sync
Sync is a stripped-down fixed gear bike developed by John Goodhew. It’s the frame design that makes the biggest impression and the idea came to Goodhew in 2012 when he first attempted to build a frame that replicates a cyclist’s crouched posture.

The frame is made of high tensile steel with a powder coat finish. Available in six colours (blue, red, yellow, black, sky blue, pink) and three sizes, the frame and front forks retail at £799 while the complete bike comes in at £1,299. The bike has a flip flop rear wheel, so it can be fixed or freewheel. An optional front brake can also be added at an additional cost. www.syncbicycles.co.uk

D-Fix
D-Fix is a super simple removable rear hub design from one Jan Deckx. While not available to the public and still at the prototype/testing stage, Deckx was using the Innovation Lab to put the clever product in front of the public, press and – most importantly – investors, the kind that will be able to help him put it into production. Deckx told BikeBiz post-event: “The show went well with a lot of positive response from the public. There is interest indeed from possible Belgian investors.”

Cycling Weekly also picked up on the innovative device and hailed it as a “game changing freehub design”. ambideckxter@hotmail.com

Locksit

Locksit is a bicycle helmet lock. Over to founder Martin St-Gallay: ”The Locksit is a bicycle helmet lock with a light so that wherever you go, you can lock up your helmet and you will always have a light, safely attached to the bike. It is a very simple product and we are very proud of it. We came by the idea when cycling to the station and then knocking everyone on the train [with our helmets] and thought there had to be a safe and easy way to lock up your helmet and there wasn’t, so we came up with this!” www.locksit.co.uk

Lightrider

Lightrider is one of two safety light products that appeared in the Innovation Lab. Tudor Davies explains to BikeBiz: “It is the only bike light in the world to illuminate the torso of the rider as well as the road. This addresses the problem that a Hi-Vis jacket in the dark is black, it needs light to reflect. 80 per cent of bike accidents are from the front or side of the bike with the biggest danger being T-junctions. Lightrider enables other road users to see the form of a cyclist rather than just another source of light on the road.”

“The Innovation Lab went really well. We really liked the physical stand, as it looked very pro and caught the eye. There was also a nice amount of space.

“We had some very good sales, lots of interest and most importantly some significant trade enquires.”
Davies said that among those is a particularly interesting iron in the fire that he can’t talk about, but hopes he can reveal soon. www.lightrider.co.uk

See.Sense
See.Sense is a daylight visible bicycle light designed to boost cyclist visibility. It’s bright in every sense of the word, intelligent enough to flash faster and brighter – using patent-pending sensor tech – depending on the environment, such as when at a road junction or roundabout.

Co-founder Philip McAleese told BikeBiz: “For us [the show] worked out brilliantly. We achieved brand exposure with the public, journalists and the cycling industry. We also gained business opportunities with shops, distributors, manufacturing partnerships and design services.

“We sold a lot of lights and made a healthy profit too, despite it being the wrong season to sell lights. We got a lot of the potential deals. It is very early of course, but I’m sure we’ll have some good news to share about how the Innovation Lab has been an essential part of our company development and growth.” www.seesense.cc

Stique
Cannock based Stique showed off its Multilever tools. Gregory McDonald, founder and director, told BikeBiz: “Our Multilever ML123 and ML14 are both made of an exceptionally strong plastic that has been used in the automotive industry to replace metal parts on cars. It’s so strong that not one has broken in a workshop environment in 15 months of testing.

“It’s so strong and light that we can design holes in it to hold vital cycling knick knacks like split chain links and heart rate monitor spare batteries, or £1 coin holders, to cover those moments when you need to find them.”
While the brand said it has mixed results from this showing at ExCeL, the company does have some new developments in the works.

McDonald explained: “We’re busy working on further product introductions, all of which are completely different to what’s out there at the moment, just like our ML123 Multilever.” www.stique.bike