Hi there
Have you found yourself swearing because your bike has fallen over when leaned against your car or a wall? I have and became so exasperated when it once slipped over damaging my car and the bike itself that I decided to invent a gadget to help. I did just that and came up with "The Bikelean". All the details are at www.bikelean.co.uk. This isn't a sales technique. I'm just looking for advice from the cycling community (before I stick loads of money into something which won't sell!) as to whether you girls and boys think it could be useful. We have already taken onboard the fast the design needs modifying (the "inner" part of the circle is being removed to enable the bike lean to be attached to all types and sizes of handlebar for both mountain and road bikes) and we also intend to incorporate a tyre lever as opposed to the compass. Please feel free to offer any words of wisdom - negative or positive - in order that we may produce something which could save everyone that sinking feeling, a damaged bike and a big dent in the pocket. Thanks very much, Gary
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In all honesty, this 'problem' has never crossed my mind before.
I read the home page twice to try and find the subtle joke... but failed.
I think this guy is actually serious 😆
Sorry, but I looked at your site and I still haven't got a bloody clue what it is or what it does! Am I being dumb?
What? Compass? Seriously?
elastic band +1
lightweight, cheap and if you're lucky the postman might bring you the odd free one or leave one on your driveway!
You need some pictures of it on the bike on the front page as well as the videos so people can quickly see what it does.
Great idea, I think your all missing the point with that picture of those rubber bands?
Surely the beauty of the bike lean is the fact it has a compass? Im sure many people check the weather before riding their bikes, and the weather reports generally give a windspeed and direction. The compass enables you to lean the bike up in a prime position that isnt directly agains the wind, which means its even less likely to fall over. If you use rubber bands, the chances of the wind blowing your bike over a greatly increased.
Not for me I am afraid. Solution in search of a problem - but it might be attractive to the guys that like all the gadgets
I'll tell you where I am....
...at my desk.
(Overengineered solution for an almost non-problem)
Tyre lever instead of compass is a much better idea.
But judging from the responses hear I think you really need to market it as a tyre lever with an extra bit(the bike lean). Not as a bike lean with a tyre lever.
Is there anyway you could add in a 5mm allen key as well ? maybe sell it as multitool which can also be used as a bike lean.
Your having a laugh........ right?
If not, pull out now and save your money.
Whats wrong with putting the bike on the floor in the first place?
Plenty of wheel stands, BB stands on the market already, and no one uses those, do they?
Bike Lean have a Warehouse and Distribution Centre in Nottinghamshire and an Administration, Sales & Marketing office in Berkshire.
That sounds like a big operation to sell a little plastic gadget that nobody seems to want.
as above - picture of it on the bike so people get an idea of scale.
Compass is a waste of time - make the device smaller and drop it.
Home page is a waste of time - the Olympics and cycle to work might be 'google freindly' but they won't help actually sell the product.
A removable kick-stand/bicycle pump thingy woudl give the same result and avoid the need to lean the bike on a wall?
What? Compass? Seriously?
I agree. To be truely multifunctional. You need to add a bottle opener...........or a cigar lighter. Yes that's it, a cigar trimmer and lighter. Then I'd buy two*
*maybe
From reading the web page alone I couldnt work out what it was supposed to do.
Then I wondered if it was some form of knucle duster. However 4 things sprung to my mind when I finally understood what it does.
0.5 Sh!t I've never worried about this problem, will have to now.
1. Rubber band
2. It doesnt actually stop the car from getting scratched.
3. Whats wrong with the ground.
4. You will never make money unless their are lots of gullable people out there.
oh 5. Whats the compass thing for ?
Its a bit like spending £100's of pounds for a seat post that drops when you can just undo a leaver that does the same thing.
Add a bottle opener and I'm sure that it will sell very well to hipsters looking for something to hang keys on the beltloops of their sister's jeans.
Oh, change the name of it to something quirky/genitalia related.
when I've leaned my bike up against something, I always find I'm in need of something to get stones out of horses hooves. with a little thought could this be the perfect tool?
I would find it more useful if it incorporated nunchucks. Or a bowstaff. Then you could use it to hunt wolverine when not leaning your bike.
what, nobody's mentioned the Range Rover Sport yet?
Ok, im interested. Can I have your projected sales for the next 3 years, your manufacturing price and your proposed RRP? How many to date have you actually sold? will you ever actually pay for the website setup from selling these? I seriously doubt it.
Oh and while you're at it, have you ever heard of velcro straps or reusable zip ties?
Im sorry but it's just over engineered, bulky, and probably more expensive than a free velcro strap.
I think I need this a little less than Harry Hill needs a comb.
change the name of it to something quirky/genitalia related.
Good idea - call it the MooseKnuckle 🙂
I still can't get over the idea of a "warehouse and distribution centre in Nottinghamshire".
Does it look like this ?
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I [b]LOVE[/b] the "Attempting to knock bicycle over once Bike-Lean is attached" video. It so nearly goes over and scratches the Range Rover Sport (damn!)
http://bikelean.webs.com/videos.htm
And the "Administration, Sales & Marketing office in Berkshire" ?
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Is this a student project on a Product Design course ?
Interesting, would I ever use such a thing, no, but I can see there may be a market.
I'd imagine if you could get to a price so it's almost a novelty sale (say £3ish). If you can get cheaper then perhaps you could find volume as a magazine freebie.
From a design and design for manufacture point of view I doubt you could get down to very low costs to support above. I'd probably look at a much smaller design, composite and that you could rapid prototype initially before moving to tooling a blow/injection/whatever moulding.
HTH
Its a bit like spending £100's of pounds for a seat post that drops when you can just undo a leaver that does the same thing
Yeah, except in that case you actually have to stop and get off to change the saddle - with a gravity dropper, you don't.
I reckon I could knock it over.
The photos of the contraption make it look like it's massive, only looks smaller in the video (in which it looks like the car was most likely scratched).
I think you should design something like a portable bike stand made out of button mushrooms instead
A removable kick-stand/bicycle pump thingy woudl give the same result and avoid the need to lean the bike on a wall?
A pump which doubles as a kick stand would be a cool idea.
Oh dear - FAIL 🙄 Nice try but I am ooooot!
Administration, Sales & Marketing office in Berkshire
I think I know who it is
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The nice picture of cyclisters on your home page is reversed.
Do I understand that basically you wedge it round the brake lever and the bars? I don't quite see how it adapts to working with lots of different manufacturer's styles of brake lever?
Doesn't an old toe strap do the same job? (or an elastic band).
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buzz - yeah but this isnt a business is it 🙂
on a serious note, how does it cope with the fact bikers run different bite points on their brakes due to personal preferance? I run mine so close to the lever that with 2 fingers you can get the lever to touch the grip. Some of my mates run their levers so far out you need to be stretch armstrong to use them. This obviously wouldn't work for both of us
buzz - yeah but this isnt a business is it
LOL
on a serious note, how does it cope with the fact bikers run different bite points on their brakes due to personal preferance?
My thoughts exactly!
these are good
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dual purpose, adjustable, room to print company names so they can be given away as freebies, fit all bars and brakes etc etc.
I like it and I'd pay up to 7 quid for one.
I have a big ding in my car caused by exactly that. I don't usually carry rubber bands and stuff and most of my fettling is with the bike against the fence, would also be useful when cleaning the thing and so on and storing it in a hallway etc as it wouldn't move at the slighest touch.
A handrake for bikes good call.
Also on a proper serious note - I've never wished for one of these, and would not use it if it was lying on the floor next to my car. I just prop up my bike against the car resting on saddle and bars, and when I am messing with it I rest it against my body.
What I really need is some kind of sweet compartment on my handlebars to put my haribo in.
What I really need is some kind of sweet compartment on my handlebars to put my "haribo" in.
you're going to store your drugs in it aren't you... i know your sort! 😈
The simple hassle free answer is to lean your bike up against [b]someone else's car[/b] 😈
on a serious note, how does it cope with the fact bikers run different bite points on their brakes due to personal preferance?
The bit that holds the brake lever has 3 differnt points at which it holds the lever. Looks a well designed product to me just does not fulfill a function for me
Do you mean a sweet compartment on your handlebars, as in: "Dude, I've got this totally sweet compartment on my handlebars!" Or is it just a compartment for sweets?
Poor bugger's taken a hammering. I take it there's no serious buyers on here then. How much is it anyway..?
I don't get the compass at all. well designed apart from that, and has a sort of use, but I wouldn't buy. also, its specific to MTBs / flat barred bikes, what about road bikes?
[url=
Prime Innovations catalogue material.
Sorry.
As others have said, I can't imagine I would ever have a need for such a thing as there are so many other ways to solve that problem. If you want suggestions though:
- Open up the ring end otherwise it would be a pain to use with bar ends
- Put your videos on YouTube rather than 'FlowPlayer' for SEO reasons
- Rewrite your website for the customer rather than for you. It takes too long to work out what it does
shocking website. took me an age to find out what it actually does. and when i did, it seemed rather pointless. been riding 15years and never felt the need for it. now ive seen it, i still dont.
thats why i wont be investing, im out!
I like that in the video the bike is leant against a blingly looking Rangey Sport, such is the confidence that the bike will not fall over and scratch the car.
But I would never bother using one. I was advised from an eary age to always lean a bike on a wall/car/tree/lamp post by resting the back wheel only on it: friction between wheel, ground and vertical surface acts as a brake of sorts and my bikes all have a back wheel already.
no point putting multitool kit on this gizmo if the bloody thing is already being used to keep the bike upright!
How about attaching a bucket and sponge and calling it bikeklean?
....
damn, there goes my patent. 😯
ha ha ha ha ha
( That's all I have to say )
When I first read the thread title I thought it was going to be about some revolutionary new stabilisers for kid's bikes. All a bit of a let down really.
What it really needs is one of those things for getting stones out of horses feet
Lakeland have proven that people will buy useless tat by the bucketload!!
Perhaps you need to market this to them!?
I'm going to offer to take part in the focus group development for 1st class rail travel expenses & two nights 5* accomodation before & after the focus group. That'll be the first years profits gone for a focus group of one person.
It's a none happening problem IMHO, with cheaper solutions.
the-muffin-man - Member
Lakeland have proven that people will buy useless tat by the bucketload!!Perhaps you need to market this to them!?
Too niche for Lakeland, but might be worth a shot - I have a really stupid idea that I want to pitch to them!!
Talk to the people who sold millions of "power balance bands", they know how to sell useless crap to gullible people.
http://www.powerbalance.com/contacts
Who's kelean? Does he or she know they've been outed as bi on the internet?
"Ken and Brian have realised, nobody wants to stomp kittens. there is no market for their Kitten Stomper, whatsoever".
as many others have said, if this was a problem a free elastic band courtesy of your lazy littering local postie is the solution.
edit; would the 2 business centres mentioned be your house and your parents house?
I like the fact there must already be a user named bikelean on STW.....
A handrake for bikes good call.
Dont be silly, everyone knows that handbrakes are for canoes.
Its ashtrays for bikes!
I wanted this to be a slimming product like slimfast or jeycore lite..
Isn't this what livestrong bands were designed for? And they're easy to carry around with you 😉
If the bike in the video was a Ti framed fully rigid s/s 29er, leaning against a Skoda Octavia estate, lots of posters on here would be saying what a great product it was, & be falling over themselves to buy one.....
😉
A few things Gary;
Constructive critism on STW? - obviously not been on here much
The bike stil had reflectors on the wheels, that plasticy thing between the cassette and spokes, and what were you thinking about with the gear ratio it was in??
And that doesn't look like a trail centre car park either, thats a major flaw in your campaign. Just show it at Glentress with a bunch of [s]muppets[/s] kids about, jaw dropped in awe, and there X5 parents will be snapping them up.
Thanks me later
I'd think the market for this would be virtually non-existant, I'm afraid. The only people I could imagine buying it are non-cyclists who stumble across it and buy it as a stocking filler or something for the cyclist in their life, who would probably look at it blankly.
Also, I went to the website, and after clicking through 3 links I still don't know what it does really. I read the pitch but couldn't really visualise it, probably because I'm not really sure what the problem it's supposed to be solving actually is. Why not have a photo of it actually in use on the front page?
EDIT: I see what it does now, and sorry if it sounds harsh but this is the very definition of a solution in search of a problem.
Well done for taking an idea and actually doing something with it. But...
This isn't a sales technique. I'm just looking for advice from the cycling community
but you have a website, warehouse and distribution centre in Nottinghamshire and an Administration, Sales & Marketing office in Berkshire. Sounds very much like you are not lokking for advice but instead some freebie promotion from a well read forum
With the country’s cycling success in the 2008 Olympics, and also the recession, the country is now being driven into an even more bike 'GREEN TRAVEL' tax break scheme crazy world
What does that actually mean?
Bike Lean Ltd manufactures the handy device to prevent your bike falling over during repairs, whilst cleaning, and whilst at rest.
No it doesn't. It locks the brake to stop it rolling forward or back, it does not prevent it falling over.
I'm not even slightly worried about laying my bike down on the ground whilst I'm not using it! It is a mountain bike and it will not get damaged on the ground.
I wouldn't use it if it was a magazine freebe, let alone pay for one.
Yeah, but it does double as a helmet attachment point too.
💡 Oh, you could hang your helmet over the bars anyway, I guess.
It's quite an interesting idea, but as noted above, unfortunately solves a non-problem.
It looks nicely made and works well, from the video.
How about incorporating a wall bracket? some sort of hinged bracket for leaning your bike up outside when you're washing it?
I'd say an "Andy stand" comes closer to solving this non-problem. Your website, marketing tactics and frankly crap product suggest Student design project thats gotten out of hand to me.
Nice try but don't quit the day job just yet.
Bunch of suckers!
My guess is this is an A level project. Coursework deadlines will be the first day back after the Easter break and all A level Design students across the country are feverishly getting some evaluation into their portfolios. Feedback from "experts" or "potential consumers" is encouraged. For projects that have relatively minimal manufacturing skills demonstrated students are often encouraged to write a business plan or marketing/presentation material for the design - hence the website.
My take - nicely executed but bit of a fail I'm afraid. Task analysis has not really identified a real problem and the outcome adds little to the rider experience. If you had designed and made a small kit of parts that could be kept in a bag that applied the brakes and locked the steering so that a very light prop stand could hold the bike securely enough for "robust" cleaning or maintenance you might have produced a product with a purpose.
No, I don't want one either. Yes, ditch the compass, but as well as the tyre lever could you have a wheelnut spanner for fixie crowd, with bottle opener and emergency gear hanger too.
Don't know about the weight, but if it were suitably robust could you use it for installing Superstar Components bottom brackets?
Might be useful, if you store a bike in a house/flat. I used to store a bike in a flat in london. Pretty sure I knocked it over several times. Well there were black marks on the wall when I left.
This may have actually be useful then.