Hello and good day to you from episode 33 of our podcast series Project Breakaway. A metaphorical and literal time in the day when we here at Predator cycling take some time away from working in the back shop to come and share with our listeners what we're doing, how we're doing it, what it takes to do it. Our ideas, our innovative success stories and even our missteps and failures. If you find yourself with an interest in bicycles, composite manufacturing, out of the box design or even curiosities beyond. I encourage you to stick with us, settle in and learn a little. I'm Courtney B, co-owner and project manager of Predator cycling. I'm here with my partner Arm Goan, the other co-owner, CEO, lead designer and engineer. And number holder designer. How's it going, Arm? It's going pretty well. It was pretty uncreative with that last one, but that's what you're doing. So that's what you got. Yes, that is I've been actively working on number holders. Okay, so let's jump into it, I guess. Yeah. Um, explain what a number holder is. And why it's necessary. Um, yeah. So a number holder is, um, a thing that holds a number. Original, huh? And it goes on a bike. And it goes on a bicycle. Um, it's used primarily for like stage races. Um, certain bike races require numbers to be on the bike. As well as on the rider. The stage race is like, uh, like the Tour de France. Like the Tour de France. Multi-day races. They don't have number holders. They do. The Tour de France, your the all stage races. Have numbers. I don't think I ever noticed. And why don't they just pin the number on your back? They do, they do both. Um, because you have to, it's kind of a little tricky. So the bike is also a person. A person. It's kind of it's it's associated to you. Because don't they have to inspect and register a bike? They do, they have to check the bikes. And then like it's sometimes like what'll happen is like you'll put a jersey on like a jacket on. And so like you'll cover up your number. But then your bike has the number on it. It's like redundancy. They know who you. Oh, I guess well, they know who like the popular people are. Right, but there's like, I mean, like in the tour, there's like 180 riders or something. So like, I mean, So here's a question, if you have your number on your bike and like you get a flat. Or you crash and you get one of those those bikes off the roof. What number, what number do they have? They so if you're like a major GC contender, they'll actually have your number on another spare bike. That's dedicated to you. But what if you're not? Do you just get? So you get you get a bike with no number on it. Oh, okay. And you just have your number on your jersey. But like it's just like a redundancy thing. Um, and then I know Trathlons, you also have number. Uh, they have number holders. They carry numbers on the bike. Um, and not the Velodrome. No. Velodrome we do not. It's only on the rider. Okay. Um, so it's just some races require it. Some don't. Some Grand Fondos. Um, have numbers you put on your bike. Um, some races do, some races don't. It's kind of, um, not all bike races, like crits don't. A lot of road races you don't. Um. Okay. So yeah. So you need a number on your bike. Yeah. And frames obviously don't come with a number holder. No. So. So back in the day. Oh, they actually had number holders built into the frame. Well, you had old frames where you have like a more traditional geometry where like that top tube is like parallel to the ground like up high. Um, they used to have these little um, little braz on fittings that used to go on. You used to screw the number in there and you would like basically tape it or zip tie it to the head tube. And it would go in the front of the bike. So why don't they do that now? Because the bikes don't look like that anymore. They don't they can't fit. You can't put a number there anymore because like because of modern day frames, like it just they don't fit. So they started putting them on the back of the bike. Okay. And we made um, we used to make a number holder calling the razor back. Um, we made one. And it used to go on the back like where the brake goes, where the rear caliper brake goes. And then that's where they kind of all started getting put. So the razor back that you had for years and years and years. Yeah. Is made out of carbon fiber. Yeah, it's actually it's a somewhat interesting story how we came up with it. Um, we actually took a I think it was on Facebook back then. Yeah, I don't know, it was on some social media. We posted like we had made a couple carbon fiber parts. And we're like, what should we make next? And my friend uh, we used to ride together, Justin, Justin Williams. Um, he was like, you should do a carbon fiber number holder. Because that'd be cool. And I was like, okay, like that makes sense. So we actually came up with the first razor back. Um. Why'd you call it razor back? Because it went on the back of the bike. It went on the back of the bike and we put something in there. I called them the number stabilizers. What I used to call it. Which is basically just a really thin piece of carbon fiber that goes in between because a number in most races. A number is actually a piece of paper with printed numbers on both sides and then you fold it in half like a card. But it's like hard paper. It's like card stock. Card stock. It's like card stock. But they're still not that hard, so in the wind they used to kind of like flap around. So I came up with this idea of putting this like little basically a card that goes inside of it. That's out of carbon fiber. So like a tiny little credit card, no, it was more like a Kroger Plus card. Yeah, it was like a really long thin Kroger Plus card. Made out of carbon fiber. Made out of carbon fiber that went inside sandwich between two pieces of paper. And it just kept it from flapping. It just made it rigid so it wouldn't flap around. And then it had a hole in it. So you basically screw it in. And it kind of looked like a razor, like an old school razor. Like the one where you like shave yourself. Yes. Just the barber of civil. So one of the somebody came up with the name. Razor back. I was like, oh. Okay. Makes sense. So that was it. And that's what you've had on the website. Ever since I've known you. So you you have the one that you know is is the 2.0 version. You never saw the original. Well, I was around when you redesigned the manufacturing process. Yeah. Yeah. And you put a hex. Yeah, it was. That's new, right? That was one of there's a anyways. It's it's it's the The concept was the same, um, the same concept of how we did it. Um, it's just a slightly different design. Um, but yes, there was a hex nut that was that was um that was fitted inside, press fitted in inside the carbon fiber casing. Um, because a lot of companies what they did is they just basically took like a piece of sheet metal. And they would just bend it and like give it a twist. And they would just basically put a nut and a bolt through it and just tighten it down and that was it. And I I always thought those were kind of, I don't know. Not very cool because you had this like nut just sitting out in the wind and like you had this cap screw and it just. Oh my god. Um. But I just didn't think it was very slick. So, um, I basically designed the nut would be actually encased in carbon fiber and that's how it was actually held in place. It's like in the grand scheme of things, a carbon fiber number holder is not like going to save you. No. A lot. It's not going to do. It's just a cool factor. It's just like a cool thing. Yeah, it was cool. I mean, I I would argue that I think that based on how other number holders of the time worked. I I think our razor back was more effective. It had more surface area. It had it was more um it had the number more resistant to twisting. Um, it streamlined a little bit in the bike a little bit better. Um, there's some little key details. Okay. Um. Yeah, but it's like we're talking about I mean like I think our razor back 2.0. I think it was like 8 grams, 9 grams. I think the lightest on the. See like it was ironic. Okay. The problem was this is that we included our hardware. There was other people that used to make number holders that were like one or two grams. But um. Um, they didn't include the hardware. So our hardware was included inside of the um the setup. Yeah. So. Uh, it was light, uh, but yes, like you're talking about you're saving, you're talking about saving like. You know, 6 grams, 8 grams. So. Um. Yeah, so tell me why it's kind of obsolete right now. Well, we don't really use caliper brakes much anymore. Um, so we don't. The industry. The industry doesn't use it. Yeah, so most racers now are not using. So when you buy a bike now today. What's caliper? Oh. Like the things where you squeeze the brake. It squeezes the rim. Yeah, squeezes the rim. Wait, so how does the bike stop now? It's a disc brake, like our bike. Like the RF 20. It uses hydraulic disc brakes. Does the wheel it stop self-stops? Well, I mean, the it's there's a rotor at the hub. It's electronic. Uh, it's it's hydraulic. It's not. Electronic is electronics or the shifters. The new shifters are electronic. The braking is hydraulic. So then how does it? I'm sorry. So you hit the brake. And then the hydraulic. The hydraulic compresses the cylinder that compresses it on the rotor that's attached to the hub. Instead of where it clamps against the wheel. It's now clamping against that little rotor in the middle of the wheel. Oh. Different system. So there's just no brake anymore. So when you break. I'm not I don't ride. So when you break, what kind of brakes are on my? I have caliper brakes. You have caliper. caliper brakes, yes. And I'm thinking like when I was a kid, so like you know, kind of like lightly touched the brakes and you skid to a stop. Oh, yeah. You know? Yeah. Um, so with the caliper brakes, you can't just stops, right? You can't like slow, you can't like. Oh. You're talking about brake modularity, is what you're talking about. It's like about how the feel of the lever is and how that feedback happens to the wheel and the braking power. That's called brake modularity. Um. Do you still get that effect where like, I don't know, when I was a kid, it would be like, break, break, break, break and then like like fish tail. You can skid your tires, yeah. You can do the same thing with hydraulics. Um, and hydraulic disc brakes. Um, it. Yes. Um. Hydraulics have more feedback because you cannot compress a liquid, right? Um, you're stretching a cable. I cannot compress a liquid. Oh, cuz hydraulics. Hydraulics are with liquid. Um, you can, I mean, you can compress a liquid. It's very, very difficult to compress a liquid. Um, where a cable, a stainless steel cable, which is how those brakes work, you're stretching it. And you can stretch those. So it works kind of like a spring. So when you pull the brake, it has kind of like this springy feedback in your lever. Um. So a hydraulic system basically has instant feedback because it's there, but then because it's mechanically assisted by the pistons. The feedback is. It's it's an argument that people have all the time with hydraulics versus cable systems on what has actual better feedback. I mean, anyways. Hydraulic disc brake system has more true feedback to the caliper, but because of how a caliper works and how a rotor works, it kind of mutes out that feeling. So. Anyways. It's a it's a big long discussion that. That's about brakes, not about. That's about brakes, not about number holders. Okay, let's get back to number holders. So yeah, because of the adoption of disc brakes. Um, and the adoption of just modern day frames are just getting where we put the brakes are changing and the brake bridges are changing. We have direct mount calipers now. It just didn't make sense that that was a standardized place to put a number holder anymore. Not on the brakes. Yeah, you can't really do that effectively. Oh, the baby's here. The baby's here. Um, so we have, so you've been working on new number holders. I have. We've been. Um, so. Talking about it for a while and finally got around to it. Um, so they're on the website, right? They are. Yes. So we have the universal and the fitted. Yes, we have two. So let's discuss the universal. I and we also don't might not have names particularly for them yet. We're just loosely calling them. Yes. These are these are my um. Yes. See our chief engineer over here already says he doesn't like the names. We're going to have to change it. Yeah. Um, we're going to be called the universal and the. I can go with that. Um. So yeah, on the universal. Basically, what I mean by universal is that it it is not dependent on the frame. It it's universal. It fits on all bikes or almost all bikes. Cuz it goes on the seat tube. It goes on the seat tube. seat post. No, there's no one seat tube shape. No, so there's different diameters, there's different profiles, there's arrow profiles, there's or it could be not a seat post, it could be an ISP, an integrated seat post. But it is a seat post though. It That just means that the seat's attached, right? It means that it's part of the seat tube and then the seat post, which is like a stub connector goes on the top. It's very It's similar. They're similar to each other. I just I Yeah. They're they're There's a difference, but You're really threading the needle on what the difference is. But my point is is that the universal would fit on any of those. And it also could work in a situation where if you didn't want to mount it on the actual seat post itself and you wanted to mount it like on a chain stay or something for some reason or like. Mhm. It's it's it can be easily adapted to a lot of different positions. So tell me about your universal design, the design process. So, obviously, we've been pushing 3D print really hard. So, um, these are obviously 3D printed. Um, and all 3D printed here in house. Um, and the universal, there's a couple problems with number holders. Or, you know, holding a number. One one is actual um clamping of it. So a lot of the times what we're using is is um a screw with a washer and a nut. And the the amount of holding force on the number to prevent it from twisting or flapping is the surface area of each clamping side. So, you know, however you're sandwiching that number together. And that surface area has to do a lot with what, you know, how much actual holding force you have. So, um, the way these are designed is um is to increase that surface area as much as possible. Um, and also, one of the things that I mean, with the original razor backs that always bothered me was this like this ugly hardware just sitting out in the wind. I just it always drove me nuts. So the screw is recessed into the number holder and the receiving nut is also recessed into the number holder. Um, So that's that was a really important thing to me because I didn't want it to be this ugly hardware just sticking out in the air. Um, I I always bothered me. So this is uh very So they normally stick out? Yes. I don't know of another one that's integrated like ours. I haven't seen one. Where do you buy a number? I mean, a bike shop obviously, but are companies that just specifically make number holders? There's a couple. There's some companies that make it, there's some bike manufacturers that kind of make their own for pros only. Um, there's some you can get some on Amazon. You'll be able to get ours pretty soon on Amazon. Um, but there are like, you know, some overseas manufacturers that makes these kind of generic ones. Okay. Um. But they're all, I don't know. And there's a lot that use those rubber like a rubber O-ring design. But I really dislike that too because you get these like massive hardware. Like this big like latches on sticking out on the sides. I really want something slick. That was really the idea. make it really slick, really streamlined, really simple. Like you don't see it there. Yeah. Just make it I mean, I, you know, we could argue about aerodynamics and how aerodynamics affect it, but like I'm I mean, obviously, I haven't simulated the the CFD numbers on it, but I I mean, this isn't a carbon bike, this is just a little piece that goes in the back. Right, it's a little piece that goes in the back. It is definitely, I would imagine that it flows much better. It's slicker, it's smoother, it has more holding force. Um, and the universal works with a zip tie. Um, so you basically wrap a zip tie around the seat post. Um, and then pull the, you know, tighten up the zip tie and then I designed it so that there's a recess inside of it. So the head of the zip tie kind of fits right inside. That little rectangle shape. Yeah. And then just cut it. And then you just cut the end of the ply off. There you go. And that's it, and it's nice and secure. Um, I know that a couple of people with O-ring designs that have an O-ring, which basically has like these two clips, like, you know, hooks on either side. And you kind of hook it over and you wrap the the um the O-ring around the other side and clip it on. Um, I know a couple people have complained that they sometimes slide. Slide. They don't slide so much, but like sometimes the O-ring is the wrong size. So it doesn't stretch enough and they rip it and then they need multiple O-rings. Um, I've heard a couple people in crashes, they they rip them off. Um, you know, and I I don't like it because then you're required to have basically this like 4 mm of material sticking up past the seat post. Um, which one catches air. Two, you know, I don't think it looks very good. Um, and so zip tie made more sense. Obviously, it's a little more work to get it off because you have to cut the zip tie. Um, and you can't really you have to use a new zip tie every time you put it on. Every time you want to take the number holder off, you got to put a new zip tie on. You'd have to do that anyway. If you got these other ones, right? Well, they don't cut, you can just kind of stretch them off. They kind of unhook. But my thing was is I thought the design was slick enough and smooth enough. And not as um very unobtrusive. Trusive. How do you say that? Unobtrusive. Unobtrusive. Are you saying B? Are you saying B? Unobtrusive. Um, but yeah. So it's not it's very slick. So my theory was kind of like you don't really have to take it off. If you're somebody who's racing stage races or track. You're not taking it off anyway, you're just taking the number off. You just take the number off, you can leave it on, it's not a big deal. Um, And you're coating these too. These aren't just like off the 3D printer with. No, these are post-processed coated and then they're ceramic coated. We ceramic coat them here. So like sweat and water and Sweat, water won't affect it. Um, it also is anti-friction, so it shouldn't scar up or mark anything. Um, uh, and also UV lights because they are UV cured, we use resin resin-based printing systems here. Um, so um they're completely UV stable. So you get a lot of light under your seat. No, but a bike is outside. It's on the roof of a car, it's exposed. I mean, anyways. Okay. Um, yeah. Let's uh talk about the uh unnamed fitted number. Yeah. So basically, the idea behind the fitted number, which is what I actually designed first. That's the first one I wanted to do. I thought it was cool. So, it's basically designed around the seat post or ISP or or part of the frame that it's connecting to. Mhm. Um and it's basically made to exactly fit the profile. So it basically slides on like a like a seat collar would. Like on a clamping collar. Um and it fits around it real nice and snug. And then, um, So those are intentional for specific brand uh tubes or whatever. Correct. Yes, so we currently have them for a 35, which is the oversized ISPs or 35 mm. Um 316 and 272 are the current three sizes that we make. Okay. Um and then, um, there's a couple people that do it like that that that have a kind of like a sliding fit. The problem with them is is that over time, um it will stretch. I mean, all thermoplastics, thermosets will stretch out over time. Over time, we all stretch. Yes, we do. All things stretch over time. Um and especially under heat. Because, you know, anyways, thermal expansion. There's all kinds of things that it gets bigger. So what I designed in this one is I designed this really cool little integrated set screw. It's a set screw that's that's made out of nylon that basically pushes against the seat post. Or the seat tube. Um to tighten it up. So it just kind of gives a nice snug fit. So it won't move. It won't slide under any condition, even years down the road if it stretches out a little bit. You take it on and off 100 times. You can just tighten it just a little bit extra. And that's it. It'll just hold it in place. So you, okay. So that one. So, let me picture this. You have the little the circle. Mhm. Or the ellipse or whatever. The fitted. Then that has the normal screw that attaches it to close it. But it also has a screw on the inside. There's no screw. Well, you say screw to close it. The actual thing that goes. To close the circle. It doesn't close. It slides onto the circle. It slides onto the seat post. There's no circle. It's already closed. It's fully closed. Oh, is it? It's closed. Yeah. Do you have one? I actually don't have one on my desk. Well, for anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about. The renders are online. Oh, I got it. I just did that. Anyway. Um but yeah, so it's fully closed. And the set screw just tightens up that closure. Okay. And then like the universals, the hardware and the nut and everything is fully integrated into the number holder. So it's just. It's the the universal, the the fitted one is a little slicker than the universal. Right, so if you have a a bike or a frame that obviously fits, you get the fitted. You can choose to do either one. I mean, it's one. Or you came up with a new a a thing. A thing where you send in a seat post. Yeah, so we were going to do. We're we've been talking about trying to get seat posts. And I've got a couple coming. Um but. There's a lot of frames out there. There's a lot of manufacturers, there's a lot of different designs. So one of the things we were going to offer is to say that anyone that has a seat post. that we don't make a fitted number holder for. If you on on at your expense, mail us a seat post. Or cut a piece off. Or cut a bottom piece off, have a profile section of it. Or if your manufacturer supplies for the CAD model profile, whatever. Um, we will make a specific number holder for that profile, that seat post, that part. Um, and we will give it to you for free. Um, and we will pay the shipping to you. Return shipping. Return shipping of the post. Part, whatever. Mhm. Um, and uh, the only thing you would be that, you know, the expense on your side would be shipping to us. So basically you ship a profile or your seat post to us. We make you a free number holder and ship it back. Yep. And then we use that for our arsenal. Going forward. So that we have that in our catalog of um number holders in the future. Yes. Yeah. So that's kind of the idea. I thought that was kind of a a cool way to one say thank you to people that are willing to help us out on adding to our arsenal, but also anyone that even has like, you know, if you got some weird bike from I don't know when or something that's not a super popular frame. Um, we are more than happy to make you a number holder even if we only ever make one. Yes. Yeah. So that's really cool. So I think we'll really push that on uh social media into the stories. Um get the word out about that. Yeah. For sure. And I mean, we'll probably also put up a little blur on it on the product page. Yeah. So that people see it. And then. Just, you know, send us an email. Hey, I want to send this one. Yeah, we'll put together a form and everything for it and all that stuff. A form? No. Oh, I don't know, that sounds involved. I like forms. Okay. It makes it feel more organized. Okay, so that's the fitted. Um, we talked about sending it in. Um, and then you talked about, oh, you were talking about Torx versus Allen keys. This is an ongoing. Our ongoing discussion about Torx versus Allen keys. So we are Torx family over here. Okay. So yes. Everyone out there. A Torx key is a superior driving head for a screw of any kind. It just so happens that not everyone has a superior. Yes. No. Wrench. No. A driver. A driver. Whatever the thing is that you put the screw in with. Yes. Okay. But like, so now that I mean, so we've uh, we have a couple number holders. The universals that have already gone out there and already been in races. Um, and the only um, that people really. And they all use the universals is what they were testing. And the feedback was great. We had great feedback. The only thing that was came in question is was like, We can't put them on our bike. Well, no, they did. They had a T 20. They had a T 20 driver. It's harder to put on our bike. They said, it's just a little strange that it's a Torx key. I have no. Okay. So I. And I understand that. And so that we have a lot of screws on our bikes and our parts that use Torx drive. They use a Torx key. Um, and the reason is because it's superior system. It's less prone to stripping. It's less, you know, it all around better. You can get higher torque numbers on a smaller driver, which means you can get a more efficient screw design. and get more surface area. Anyways. It's also it's also what I have here at the shop. No, just kidding. Yes, it's also what we have in the shop. Um, they're also hard to source. I mean, torque keys are torque screws are not easy to source. Yes, we did the work for you. Now use it. Yes. So, um, Saying that. Saying all of that. Okay, fine. There's there's there's another caveat to this. Um, and you know, something we tend to do is over engineer things. You tend to over engineer. Yes, I tend to over engineer things. So there is no on a number holder or some of these smaller ultra light, very, very low torque, basically hand tight applications. Um, a torque key is better. But there's no reason for it to be better. It doesn't need to be better. Um, and I get that. So, um, we have opted on the number holders. You've conceded. We have conceded on the number holders and um, like I have two other products in the pipeline currently that are also going to use Allen keys for driver for the screws because. It's more cosmetic than functional. Right? I don't know what cosmetic, but it's not. No, it's no, let me rephrase it. It's more functional for end users. Then functional for manufacturing. Yes, it's not there's no performance advantage to designing the part to use a torque key. Now, everyone in the world stop using Allen keys and start using torque keys. Okay, but with that said, Allen keys. Allen keys will be it will be the the the number holder will be using Allen keys. Yes. We're not providing them. No. Because apparently everyone has one, so. You should. There you go. So the uh, number holders will have Allen key type screws. Yes. Anyway. Okay, cool. And you're talking about that there were universals out there. So who has tested these? Who did we send these to? And what happened with them? So we actually it was well, I posted them on our Insta story. And one of our um, one of the guys used to race for our uh carbon repair team back in the day. Um, Jean Michael. Um, he reached out that they were going um down to South America to do a stage race. And uh, they would love to test out the universals. And if I had any ready yet. And I I did. I actually had our first batch done. So, um, I sent them down a handful of number holders to test out. Um, and they killed it. They actually won the first two stages. You said they had a composite team. They have a composite team. Um, uh, yeah. Uh, uh, V 13 clothing company. The custom apparel guys. Um, they um, it's their factory composite team that they put together. I don't I don't know much about the team, to be honest. Um, they did really well. Um, And it's probably because of the number holders. I mean, I would only assume that the number holders is what kind of did it for them. Yeah, when they did their review of how well they did in the race, they probably like, man. We've never done so well until we got this number. That's probably, that's probably exactly what they said. Oh. No, you know. No, they did an they did an amazing job. And actually it was funny because um uh one of the guys on the team actually messaged us on Instagram. And was like, oh yeah, thanks for the number holders. And like that universal is super cool. Like it you know, the zip type fits right in there and whatnot. And it just like it was nice that someone appreciated that the the um the amount of design thought that went into um the number the universal. So, um it was cool. So it they liked it. Um and the the feedback from them was that the torque key was it wasn't an issue, but it was a little strange. Just slowed them down a little bit. Yeah, they had to go back to put their hand back in the toolbox. Yep. Grab another. Okay, cool. So, um hopefully, um more teams uh discover it. And want to throw them on their bicycles. Yeah, there's a couple of teams that have been um talking to you that are interested in the number in the in getting the fitted versions. And whatnot, so. So. Okay. So, um those uh number holders, they were the second wave of our 3D printed parts. The first being the bottle cage. Oh yeah. And stuff like that. So that's why I'm calling it the second wave. Uh products. And um then I obviously going to go into our end of the second wave here soon. We're going to talk about next week, we've decided we're going to talk about more 3D printed products. Yep. We got more, we got we got a lot more, we got a lot more stuff in the works. Yeah. Again, and I just wanted to quickly go over maybe why we're tinkered in the 3D print market. Um because we're known for carbon fiber and we haven't been talking about that for a minute. Um but you want to talk about we're talking about design aspects more. Um and it's an interest for you designing, I guess. Yeah. And these um little products, they're small niche products that might be harder to find in the US currently. Because of the supply shortages from overseas. For sure. So we decided, um you like to make things for your bike. And if you already have a design and we have a 3D printer sitting here next to us, why not just Yes. Make more of them. Well, absolutely. And I think, you know, it kind of goes back to like, I mean, Prada cycling started on the concept of making you more efficient. Like that's kind of always been the the thing that we've gone after. Um so in carbon fiber was kind of the the the massive tool that we used to drastically accelerate our design. And and workflow and make super high performance parts. Um and also it's kind of like the first true, I mean, I I think of it as one of the first additive manufacturing processes. That you know, we really had at our disposal. Um and so 3D printing is kind of really just um fit right in with that. Because we've always used 3D printing for tools and stuff and molds and stuff in house. Um and we have so much simulation tech, we have so much software stuff. I mean, we design everything ourselves here. Mhm. So, um 3D printing was just a kind of a nice fit. Um and we've also gotten really, I mean, we've gotten good at it. Like we know how to do it now. We know how to do it for production. Um we've had really good success with it. So, um it just made sense for it to add in. And you know, designing parts that made sense to design for 3D print. Um, to do it. Cool, so we're doing it. So next week we're going to start talking about bar end plugs. Yes. I've been calling them speed plugs. Speed plugs. All right. Um, explain those really quickly. What they are, what they do. Yeah, so. For sure, so the the first we have two speed plugs that we've been working on. Um, one of them is a conical arrow kind of like shaped part, um, kind of primarily, you know, thinking of like pursuit bikes. Thinking of the the um, the drops on the pursuit bars, you know, the front to not have a flat surface to have like a conical shape. Um, so that that's what the first one is. It's uh. Yeah, so it just kind of helped break that up. Also, if you have arrow bar extensions and you're running like a one by and you or you know, on the on the road, you're running a one by and you don't need both plugs. Um, you need to one not have a shifter in it. Um, the the the conical one could work for that as well. Um. And then they're they're also it's actually kind of tricky to design them because they have to kind of like clip into the bars, the bar ends. So, anyways, it's got a kind of cool design on how it works. Um, for the conicals. And uh. We just finished them up. I'm just finishing up the testing on them to make sure that they fit well and. They're repeatable and they don't they don't uh. Um, they hold in place nice and tight. Um. Yeah, I'm just finishing those up. And then we have a second one coming out. Which. Um, you've seen kind of in in the in the World Cup series, people have been using similar designs. Um, and it's basically a bar plug that has like a hook on the end. Um. Because there's a restriction. So there's there's a couple restrictions from the UCI on how high the bars can go. Um, up like vertically. So for the angle you can adjust. Um, and because, you know, on track bike, you don't have um. Bar shifters. Um, the hooks are designed so that you kind of like lock your pinky in and then you can kind of hold your hands together. So kind of like a praying mantis position. And I guess I guess the little one didn't didn't like the position. Um. But yeah, so you can kind of hook your hands together like that and then hold it. Um, and close up that frontal cavity. Um. And that one was kind of tricky because that one actually needs to have like a clamping mechanism inside, like an expanding nut. And that's actually all 3D printed. So it's all 3D printed system. Yeah. And so that's the other product that's coming. That has an Allen key on it. It has an Allen key. So yeah. So we're designing those, um, we're kind of do a soft release. Maybe here soon and then maybe on the website thereafter. So if you're a web savvy person, they're actually the pages are actually live on the site. But you just there's no navigation to it. So there's there's there's like three four hidden parts that are live on the site. But. And then I'm sure you'll be doing Insta. is here too soon for those. Yeah, so we have those to come out. Um, yeah, hopefully next week we'll be able to uh put navigation to it. Um, and update the pages and everything with it. Um, yeah. Okay, well, um, let's wrap it up here. Okay. I think we've discussed uh bar plugs and uh number holders for too long. Okay, so we thank you for choosing to take some time with us. And we look forward to future breakaways. Look for us on Instagram and LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and in person here in Tennessee. We ask our listeners to please share, like and subscribe. We're available on all major streaming platforms. Thanks for listening, have a good one and find some time to break away.
EpisodeDec 15, 2021 · 33:49
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Project Breakaway with Predator Cycling
33: Have A Number? We Designed A Holder, EP. 33
Hosts Courtney B and Arm Goan discuss the innovative design of Predator Cycling's carbon fiber "Razorback" number holder for bicycles. They explain why these holders are essential for certain race formats, sharing the story behind its creation and how their sleek design effectively secures numbers and improves aerodynamics.
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