BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
American industry-veteran Morgan Nicol has taken to Kickstarter to fund the adjustable aero stem from his new company Aero Design Swiss. Latterly with Prologo and Zipp, Switerland-based Nicol was the founder of aero specialist Oval Concepts and was a partner in Ritchey International in the 1990s.
Oval was known for its modularity, and Nicol’s new stem is also based on practical fitting solutions. The aero stem is made from carbon fibre but with a core of adjustment blocks made from 3M Glass Bubbles which are lightweight, high-strength, low-density, low-shrinkage, hollow glass microspheres made from soda-lime borosilicate glass.
The Aero Design Swiss will also be modular, with future add-ons including smartphone-holding face-plates. Nicol is currently seeking UCI approval for the stem and he says meetings with the governing body’s tech team have been "positive."
Nicol is hoping to raise £23,500 via Kickstarter via early bird offers on the stem, which start at £117.
"We want to see our project come to life," said Nicol. "But obviously funds are needed to create a product and we want to be able to have the capital to deliver our component, while keeping 100 perent ownership of our brand.
"Our company focuses on technology and innovation and Kickstarter seamed like the perfect platform to achieve our goals."
He added:
"Our supporters want to redefine the cycling industry and the bike fitting processes, they want to be comfortable on their bikes and want an easy way to achieve this goal. Our backers think outside of the box and always want the newest technological advancement on their bike."
The 35-day fund-raising campaign ends on September 4th.
