Hello and good day to you from episode 34 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 my Valentine. How's it going, Arm? Doing really good, Valentine. Valentine's. It's a fun day. Yeah. I got you some chocolate, you got me a balloon. Mhm. And that's pretty good in a house full of children. Yes, that that that that sums up Valentine's Day. We'll call that a win. We will. Who knows? I might make a meatloaf. Uh, yeah, no, that's definitely a win. It's hard with it's hard doing things with kids and everything in the house and. Yeah, so. It's been a minute, it's always been. It's always been a minute. It seems like, um, you know, running a family business and having a toddler and a newborn and a pandemic. It's just all a thing. It is. anymore. Anyway. So, it's episode 34. On our last episode 33, we had released the 3D printed number holders. And since then, we've just blasted the website and Amazon site with new 3D printed products. Yep. So we're going to overview uh in our discussion today all the products that are now on our website. And um, just quickly naming those is our new bicycle computer mount, which we have named the rib mount. Yep. As well as Aero bar system components to speed plugs by. Mhm. And the speed plug hook. Yep. And then we're also going to discuss the first prototype of our yet to be named Aero bar extensions. Yeah, I I yeah. We're struggling. I think we're struggling. If we need a name at all or if we just call them Aero bar extensions. Yeah, yeah, that it's a. It's a. It's an internal dilemma. We everything's always an internal dilemma. This is true. This is true. But. We're going to discuss that. So, um. Let's just quickly review. Why is a carbon composite company dabbling in 3D print? And what makes these materials structurally useful to use for our customers? Um, okay. Um, I also think though like. Um, I know we've kind of touched on this before in the past, but um, we are a I mean, we have turned into over the last 10, 15 years into a composite shop essentially. But um, that's that's not where we started. Um, uh, we started in Scandium and aluminum, is where our first bike forever was made out of. Um, We're just evolving. Well, I think it's evolving. But it's also like, I mean, our our initial goal of predator was always to build, I mean, I wanted to make a time trial bike that was faster because I wasn't fast enough to win. Like, I wanted a faster bike. I wanted a competitive edge. So, um, you know, I I think it's always been designing bikes and components to give our customers that performance edge. But there's also a thing about designing and making things that you want, but then evolving and designing and making things that the customers are asking for. Absolutely. Absolutely. And and and also like, not even that, like, evolving the products based on like feedback from, you know, you have one or two users, five users, five racers, and all of a sudden now you're talking about hundreds and thousands of people using the products. and getting feedback from the masses and trying to um craft the products into it. And then when you have to split the products, okay, well, you know, this this is, you know, this product is different than what, you know, this group of people want. So we have to split it and make it into two different things. So, yeah. Let's just in today's world, people want more economical and easy to find products, which is harder and harder and harder these days. So 3D print is just naturally, I feel like what most manufacturing is heading towards. Absolutely. I mean, I I think 3D print, well, For the general masses, of course, if you have the custom carbon, you know, want the high-end items, sure. But, Right. No, it's it's it's If you're Joe Schmo and you're like, I have a pretty cool bike and I need some cool accessories. No, it is. And I I mean, I think that that kind of comes back to one of the points of of of us of a company that we said talking about evolving. And this ties right into how 3D why we have 3D printed parts, why we think it's a competitive advantage and why customers care about it. Um, I mean, we started predator cycling with designing parts and and making things. And, you know, we started encompassing more and more of our manufacturing process and design process in house and bringing that all in. Um, and, you know, obviously the pandemic is is affected everyone differently and obviously supply chains have been a disaster. Um, and everyone has been affected by it one way or the other. Um, and, you know, we've been very fortunate that we've been able to kind of, um, not have a complete disaster in our in our complete supply chain. Um, but it's kind of driven us to actually start making more components because we can't get them. Right. Um, there are a lot of parts like we just couldn't get anymore, so we're just like, well, we can just make it. Just make them. Unlike yesterday when I needed my fried mushrooms from my local chicken place for the Super Bowl. And fried mushrooms, there's supply chain issues. Sorry, just had to vent about supply chain issues. That's just it's an issue. But you know what they didn't do? They didn't evolve. and offer me another type of mushroom. They did they did not. They just said sorry. They said sorry, here's a french fry. We don't want to do that. No. So and and you know, so we talk about 3D printing and 3D printing has been a very pivotal part of our business for for quite some time. Um, we've been using it for prototyping and tooling and fixtures and all kinds of stuff. And and now we're starting to um make products with it. Obviously, our first products were the um the cleat angle adapters and the custom cleat angle adapters. Water bottle cage. Water bottle cage. And then the number holders we talked about. And then the number holders and now we're talking about our um our speed plugs. So just quickly, why are those is 3D is 3D print structurally sound? Yes, it makes perfect sense. It's you know, three um the types of 3D printing that we're using, which is essentially an SLA style printing is the majority of what we're doing currently. Um is is very comparable to like injection molding. It's it's a different process. But if you think about it in terms of parts that you would injection mold, What's injection molding? Injection molding is when you take um pellets of plastic, Legos are a perfect example. It's which is ABS, it's made from an ABS material. Um it is taking um the small pellets of ABS um uh plastic and then it's basically um melting it into a melt zone and then basically using like a screw. It looks like literally like a screw. And it basically forces um that melted liquid plastic into a metal mold. And then it's cooled and then you get a part. And historic, well not historically, but as of late, most injection molded parts come from overseas. Um there's a very large percentage of it come from overseas. Um it is um You get that McDonald's toy, Happy Meal toy and it's usually an injected plastic and like. Occasionally the paint might not be exactly on the face. Yes, um yes. Those are the quality. The quality different. Well, so injection molding is really good at making the exact same part over and over and over again. Hundreds of thousands of times. That's what it's really, really good at. 3D print not so much. 3D print is that's. 3D print is really good at taking a 3D model and creating it. Now, if you make one, 100, 500, 1,000, it doesn't really matter to the printer. It's just producing the part. Um, so for parts that we're talking about mostly, like our cleat angle adapters, our bottle cages, Um, sometimes you're in a situation like the bottle cage, which you can't actually injection mold. It's not injection moldable. If you look at the part and the part lines, it would have the most complicated 3D print. I mean, the injection molded mold. ever. Um, so you can't 3D print it. You can't injection mold it. Um, that being said, there's a lot of parts that you can. But the volume numbers don't make sense. Because if you're injection molding, you need to basically produce, you know, 50,000, 100,000 parts. If you're not making that many parts, it's not cost effective to injection mold. Um, and also You know, there's a whole another concept of like how much tooling you need and how much energy you're using to actually produce the power. And it's like you got to kind of like play all these things into consideration. Mhm. For items like our um our rib mount computer mount that goes in the back of your seat for track racing. Um and our speed plugs. These are popular, you know, items that we should sell quite a few of. But, you know, it may not make sense to open up an injection molding mold. And have. But they're all pretty solid, like you can't like break them. No, no. They're actually stronger, like I've tested I've tested a couple of them up against injection molded parts. And I mean, our our strength to weight ratio and um thresholds of of um deflection and stuff are much higher. Mhm. Um you can actually print, I mean, like some of the parts that we're printing. We have the same yield strengths of almost aluminum. So, I mean, we're yes. Strength is not the issue. And it's completely asotropic as well. So it's not an issue at all. So let's talk about the rib mount. Yes, let's talk about the rib mount. So, um, it's a computer. Yes. Which. Explain because my mom had no idea what it was. She's like, you can put your cell phone on your on your bike. Um, well, I mean. She doesn't sound like that either. No, she doesn't sound like that. Um. But what is a bike computer? It's a little tiny little. Yeah. So like. It's like a Tamagachi for your bike. A Tamagachi. A Tamagachi. You don't remember what a Tamagachi is? When we were kids? Sounds familiar. Yeah, keep the little animal alive. Oh, like the little, oh, yeah, yeah. It's on a keychain. And you had like when you walked, it was like taking care of it or something. Yeah. Yeah, I remember. My sister had one. That's what a bike needs. Anyway, it's that size. Well, then it's. Okay, yeah. It's like a little Tamagachi. I mean, it's kind of what we already have that. But yeah, okay. It's like that size and you you have to put somewhere on your bike. So, yes. Like a pedometer. It's like a pedometer. Pedometer would have been a way better analogy reference material than Tamagachi. Uh. Now that I'm. Now that I'm thinking about it. But isn't it really just the same thing? Keeping yourself alive. Well, no, but isn't it also just measuring? Anyways, let's tangent. Tangent alert. Um, okay, so a bike computer. Basically can um look at cycling your cadence. Uh your speed. Heart rate. Um it can look at your uh uh uh position using GPS. Wait, how does it know your heart rate? Because you have a heart rate strap on your chest. Oh, okay. Yeah, and then um power output. Wait, is it is there a cord? No, it's cordless. Wow. Can't you just wear a fitbit? It's essentially a fitbit. I mean, they can actually sync some of them after you sync with like fitbits and stuff. But you don't want to wear that when you're cycling because that would be really sweaty and gross and dirty. Well, I mean, it should get sweaty and gross anyways if you're at the gym. But anyway, not the point. Tangent alert. A Courtney's in a very tangent mood today. Um, but yes, so you have a bike computer. And it basically captures all that data. Um when you're training, that data is really, really important. Even when you're racing, like peak power output. heart rate, cadence, all these things matter quite a bit. Um, so, um, when you're racing on the Velodrome, which is that, you know, the track that you race indoors on. Usually it's indoors. Um, there's a UCI rule, which is the governing body for racing, um, and you are not allowed to have your computer mounted in a place where you can actually see it. That's silly. Well, it's not really that silly. I mean, I get why it may seem silly. But it's track racing is a very intense Oh, because they think if you see it, then you can like give it extra umph to what. No, that's still. No. So, yeah, I think there's a two-pronged approach. I think one, they don't want you to be receiving data in other than people yelling at you from the side. Um, the other thing is they don't want you to look at it and be distracted. Because track racing, we have no brakes. Um, you have one gear, it's fixed, you pedal forwards, you go forwards. You pedal backwards, you go backwards. Um, and you ride very, very close to each other. You guys, I mean, you touch elbows, touch arms, shoulders all the time. You bump into people. You're not supposed to do, but it happens. Um, so they don't want someone to be looking down and like looking at their computer. And then, you know, run into the back of somebody. Or have like a lap counter. Like, you know, on your computer when you're supposed to look at the lap counter on the side. It could give you a competitive edge by having a lap counter that's like on the computer. You know? So I think there's a couple different reasons why. But, anyways, that's the rule. And so to comply to the rule, um, you mount the computer in your pocket, you put it in your pocket. Or you put it on the back of your seat. You cover it. I've seen people just cover them with electrical tape, which I don't think passes the rule. Um, anyways. That's what they do. So we came up with the, um, the rib mount, which basically mounts to the back of your seat rails and it tucks up right behind your seat. So it's nice and in the draft. So you're basically sitting on it. It's underneath your seat. It's underneath your seat. Yeah. And if you look at the picture renders on our website, I mean, it's pretty much snugged up tight right there on the bottom of the seat. And then it's adjustable, so you can adjust where it is on the rail. So you can kind of get it real nice and right underneath your seat. And I thought the question was going to be quickly afterwards about why is it called the rib mount? Because I named it. But why rib? Because it looks like a rib. Well, okay. Oh, no. Yes, yes. But you're forgetting that the picture that you looked at when you saw it. Because if you look at the outside, it doesn't really look like a rib. Well, I guess it kind of looks like a rib. But internally, when what you're kind of alluding to earlier with our parts are super strong. Um, what you can't really do with injection molding easily. Um, but inside of our rib mount, it's actually fully hollow. But there's actually a rib that goes down the entire center section of the part that matches right up to the bottom mount. So it actually increased the rigidity of the part from a sheer pull load. Like if you're on the computer and pulling the computer down. By almost 300% increase in rigidity. Um, which is something you can't do. do in injection molding. Well, you can, but it's very difficult to do. Um, and there's a lot of little safety precautions made because if that computer bounces up and down or there's a crash to hold that computer on. There's a lot of little tricks inside the mount to um double and triple the the the the holding force of that unit. So, yes. So wait, what? So there's inside of the computer mount, if you look at the rib mount, which is basically it like swoops up. If you cut it in half, there is a rib, like a literally a a piece of material that goes the entire length of it down the center all the way through. Oh, that's, yeah. That has nothing to do with it. Oh my God. But yeah, I'm glad you took my name and like. Well, I assumed that was I showed you the cross section of the part and then you're like, oh. I thought it looked like a rib. No, but you really, you really took it off. You really took my idea and went with it. Well, I was explaining to you how it worked. And then you said, oh, the rib mount. And I was like, oh. Whatever, it's a cool name. It is a great name. It looks cool. It does. And. It's super strong and it's super lightweight. Yeah, 3D printed, ceramic coated. Yep. Hidden underneath your seat. Yep. And it's for on the website and it's on Amazon. It's not. It's not on Amazon yet. It's on Amazon yet. No, but it's on our website. It's on our website. And it retails for. Good question. That's a great question. Let me just pull up our website here. Um, and it is currently we have the Garmin mount available, um, and we will have a Yahoo. Wahoo, Wahoo, not Yahoo. Yeah. Wahoo. Uh, what's the difference between Garmin and I'm. It's just the mount. It's how the mount works. So right now we currently have the Garmin ones available. And we will have um the Wahoo ones available um very soon. And it also if just a heads up if there's anyone listening that actually wants one and doesn't want either one of those mounts. Um, if you send us an amount, I will happily make it for whatever computer you want. Yeah. I mean, I have no problem doing that stuff. Because we design our own stuff, so we can do whatever we want. We design and 3D print our own stuff. So, the rear saddle computer rib mount is on predatorsycling.com under accessories. It retails for $35. And apparently it's sold out on our website, so we'll probably need to. Oh, we did sell a couple. Okay. We need to update that. I need to, yes. I need to update that. Because yes, we do discuss our successes and failures on this website or on this website. And within our business. Yes. We'll get that updated. That's just a button to click. Uh, yes. Well, couple buttons. Couple buttons. Uh, because it actually ties into our inventory system. So it has to get updated. Anyway, it's there. And there's some pictures, renders up. And um, I will be taking photo realistic photos soon. Yeah, this week we're trying to get a bunch of that stuff updated. So, um, Yeah. We've just been um coming out with a lot of new products. So getting the product pages up to par has been um one of the things we're working on. Yes. Getting there. We are. Okay. Moving on. What's next? The um uh uh uh uh uh Aerobar system components, the Spire plug and the hook plug. Explain. So the Spire plug is basically a it's like a bullnose um shape. So basically if you have if you're running on track, if you're running pursuit and you have a a base bar that has the base unit like parallel to the ground. Um instead of putting a flat plug in it, you put a Spire plug, which is got a nice conical shape. conical shape, which has um just it helps um gently transition the air onto the bar. Let me just go ahead and read you here the description we got. Okay. Since I wrote it, I might as well read it. Our conical shaped Spire bar end plugs are the perfect addition to any track racer, triathletes or time trialist gear bag. Each plug when inserted into the end tip of a handlebar creates more aerodynamic wind flow over and under any track bar or bar extension. The tough 3D print material creates a strengthened yet smooth structure. The Spire plug is finished in ceramic coating, the plug snugly fits into most track handlebars and is secured by two O-ring locks. All of our 3D printed parts are made in Tennessee. I did not just say the last part. But yes, so that is all correct and accurate. They're sold as pairs. Uh yes, they are sold as pairs. A complete pair of 16 grams. Yep. Um and again, this is an a perfect example of injection molding um shortfalls. versus 3D printed. Because um on a 3D printed part like like this one is, I can actually hollow out that entire um front part um very easily. And actually the even the shape of it, I can hollow it out and and um taper it correctly. So that it has strength where it needs it. And no no excess material. So basically it's a little plug you put in at the bottom of your handlebar. So that wind goes over it. So it doesn't make. It just makes you faster. It just makes you faster. And it's size to fit 19 mm to 21 mm bar IDs. Yeah. So the the the inside diameter. The diameter of the circle. The inside of the of the bar end. Um and also if you're not a track racer and you're just riding racing on the road and you're running like a a one by system, like a single front chain ring. And so you don't have two um bar end shifters. Um this is a really good addition to that. So you can run um a bar end plug um on your extensions as well. Mhm. So a couple good options. What if you're running flat bars? If you're running flat bar, oh like your like on your uh on your commuter bike. On my commuter bike. I mean, I guess you could. It wouldn't really give you much of an advantage. It'd be like two little nubs. Yeah. I'd rather have the streamers. Um, okay. Is there anything else about the Spires that you'd like to do? No, I think I've said it. I think it's pretty straightforward. Okay. And in addition to the Spire plug, we also are offering a 3D printed speed plug hook. Yes. For track handlebars. Yeah, so the the hook is a little different. So basically what it does is it goes on the arrow bar extension itself. Um, it's actually a cool design. It's got a little wedge inside, so when you have a it has a screw, so you can tighten it and expand. So you can get a really, really good grip on that end of that extension. Um, and basically what it does is it allows you to be able to either cut your arrow bar shorter. So that you can just grab it with your pinky or your ring finger. And basically, um, use your top, um, your middle finger and your index finger to kind of like close the gap in on the arrow bars. So you can kind of close that cavity up and and, um, um, get a little more of an arrow position. Also, you could technically get away with having a slightly more angled arrow bar position. Like you can actually like lift your arms up a little bit more past the UCI 12 degree. Um, restriction. So. There's a couple little things you can do with it. Um, the downside of it is anytime you get into that kind of hook design, it extends your arrow bar slightly. Mhm. So if you're running, you know, for a taller rider, you got to kind of weigh out the options to see if it's worth it. Because you do have to worry about that. If you're racing track. So. Okay. But yes, another. So yeah. Uh, hook-shaped bar is, um, everything you write. I'm just reading the description. It's everything you said. It's a dual locking mechanism with two O-rings and expanding wedge that bites the inside of the bar, securing placement from any pulling forces. Yep. It is 35 grams for a complete pair. Yep. It's heavier, the heaviest part of that is that screw. There's a screw that goes down the whole length of it, so that it it bites from the bottom. And I I beefed up the inside a little bit because I my concern was. With the spires, I'm not concerned. Because you're not. You're not going to hold on to, I mean, it's strong enough that you could hold on to it, but you're not pulling or putting force on it. The the hooks you are. You're you're grabbing that thing and you can be twisting and turning it pretty hard. Um, you're not really supposed to. But someone's going to. Someone always does. So they're beefed up. And I figured basically the 8 gram penalty that you have for adding additional material to it and a longer screw. Um, it's it's worth it. Okay. And it's also sized to fit 19 mm to 21 mm. Which is pretty much 99.9% of all systems out there. Okay. So. And then, okay, so those are up on the website, the speed plug hook. For track bars retails for $55. And the speed plug Spire is $40. Mhm. And the hooks and they both come in pairs. They both come in pairs and they're both available on predatorcycling.com and our Amazon store. If you search. Yep. For Predator or speed plug Spire or speed plug hook. Mhm. Okay, and then finally, uh, we talked about Aero bar system. components. Well, let's talk about the prototype of the Aero bar extensions themselves. Yes. So, we are planning on offering a fully customizable option to the website soon. Yeah. And you have one that is specifically meant for prototyping in real life racing. Mhm. Uh, and shipment to the racer now. Yeah. So, discuss. So, discuss. Um, so yeah, we, um, well, I mean, this is kind of a I guess this is the the first time we built these, oh gosh, it was 15 years, 10, 15 years ago. We built a set of what we called them Aerodynacos. Well, I've known you for 10 years and they I they were there before I existed. So, 15, let's say 15 years ago. ish. 15ish years ago. Um, we came out with what we called the Aerodynacos, which was basically a full custom base bar and Aero bar extensions that were bonded all together. Um, it was kind of a tube-to-tube construction at that point. Um, but When you're talking about Aero bar extensions, these are like little horn looking things. I mean, put your elbows on them. Yes. So, it's called an Aero bar. That whole system is called an Aero bar and the Aero bar extension is the part that literally goes out where you hold. That's for try. Actually. It's triathletes, time trialists and track racers. All use it. It's a pretty common product that's used. And the problem that you have a lot of the times is is that you're trying to get an aero position. And it's it's complicated because you every person is a little different. How you're able to reduce power is a little different. Um, and so people companies that make standard Aero bars have a really hard job in front of them because they have to make these Aero bars that are modular. So you can adjust them to different people. But yet you have to make them light and you have to make them strong. And you have to make them so they're aerodynamic. So that there's minimal material as possible. Hardware is hidden away from the wind. And it just it's a it's almost an impossible task. Like you can't balance it all. Um, so, I mean, back in the day, our solution was to basically make tube-to-tube ones. That were custom built to people. Um, Carbon. Carbon. Um, and, um, it it was super challenging, it was super difficult. And at the time, we didn't have 3D printers and machines accessible to us. To to prototype and build stuff. And during the process of making the RF 20 and we designed our high temperature 3D printing system. Um, this is a product that kind of came back up and said, hey, you know, we could actually um, use this print method. Um, and co-mold it with a composite structure and actually make this really cool customizable part. Mhm. Um, and anyways, and then the rider that is currently testing it. We were I was chatting with him last year. And kind of like, you know, what do you think about this and you know, if we bring some of these parts back? And he got excited. And he really liked the idea. And talked to a couple other people. And it was very, um, people really into the concept. And so we played around with it. made a couple prototypes um for just for like, you know, uh for some CFD testing and for um um just like sizing up. And it was good. So, I think it's a product that is really interesting because it's we basically take either 3D scan data, um photo uh photography um with with 3D references. Um and we can basically build a sub D model of the rider's arms and position. And then basically use that for some basic CFD testing and model and build a completely custom arrow bar for them. So you're basically taking scans of the rider in his position with those little tucked in little arms. Yep. And then you're building the bar around him. Yes, and. So that makes it more arrow than like a stock bar that would technically. So there's no extra material. And we can actually. And these like I saw the bars, like the way that you hold your your forearms up and your wrist, like it's not natural. Well, so it's based around his position. So that was a. So well, okay. I take this a step farther. Very, very skinny arms. Yeah, well. Very pliable wrists. Um I I so, okay, so well, okay, there's there are people that are making in the last couple years that have started making like arrow bar extensions and stuff. And they basically, you know, either cast an arm or some of them are taking scan data in and whatnot. So where we're taking this a little differently is we're not taking it an approach from just saying, hey, this is where you figured out your optimal position is. And this is how we're going to make our bar as minimalistic around you as possible. Um that's great and that that definitely you can see massive results from that. Um we're taking this a step further is we're actually taking that rider's sub D arm and modeling front end and we're actually throwing it into a CFD solver. So that we can actually calculate the amount of drag that's being calculated, I mean, that's being produced in that given position and then modify our. arrow bars to actually decrease the drag and then actually start looking at their position. and start modifying their position um using, I mean, using equations to make different variables and different changes and trying to see what the most optimal position is. Mhm. So we we can really start pulling out those those seconds on like a 40K. very quickly. Um so. this is our attempt and this is where we have our first, we've done some testing and we've done some prototyping and we got our first road test units that are out. So we'll see how that goes. Um. And then what's the plan there for that? We don't we're not quite sure. We're. This is custom, you can't just like go on the website and just order it. We need information. We need information. Um this you I mean, I would prefer scan data. Um. Wow. I don't know if that exists for. It so it it's we're currently exploring how we're going to do it. We've already gotten some interest on the product from people. Um we're trying to understand. the best way to kind of present it. Um, we're we're also thinking of maybe possibly a couple different versions of it. Um, for the level of customized, you know, uh, customizations you want. So, we're kind of exploring with it right now. Um, but the other cool thing that's exciting about it is that, um, if you kind of notice if I posted photos on our Instagram, there's some photos on Instagram. Um, you'll notice that the arm pads are not molded into it. They're separate parts. Mhm. Um, we did that on purpose so you can make some changes and modifications. But, um, that is a product that's coming to the website soon. Just the arm pads? Just the arm pads. Like the pad or like the whole? The cup, the cup and the pad. Because you can put that on your own. You can put on any arrow arrow bar system out there really. Um, and the cool thing is is so we'll have ones that obviously match our dimensions. But, um, we we mold them, or they're net molded in house here and then we basically can cut out any bolt pattern you want on them. And then, um, we also have, um, the pads are not your normal foam stitched over pads. They're actually, um, molded, um, they're a thermo they're molded thermoplastic, um, arm pad. Um, so they're very cool, they're very comfortable. Um, they're high temp, so you can actually like wash them like in the sink. Um, and dry them out, so it's it's cool. And they're they're super comfortable. So, we're working on getting the weight down a little bit on that and and getting some little details on it worked out. But those will be available soon as well. Yeah. So the arrow bar extensions and the pads and the cups, they're all and they're all in process. Mhm. So, we're working on that one. Yep. And I think you can probably people can imagine very quickly. Um, once we kind of get this this this is our this is our third and final for for the the next little bit. Um, manufacturing system that we've kind of put out there. We've talked about it before. Um, I'm sure that everyone can kind of figure out where this is going to go pretty quickly. Where? Um, well, I mean, you know, we've talked about it before, offering a custom version of both the major pilots and the major road. Yeah. Um, those are coming up next. Um. Those are on the ticker, ticker for 2022. So, I think if you guys saw the live stream we did a couple months back, we showed the prototypes of those. Um. Uh, so those are what we showed off and we've been working on them, doing a bunch of CFD testing, doing a bunch of testing internally. To try and figure out the optimal positioning for that. But we'll have that. And you'll be able to actually get both the major road and the major pilot in a fully customizable version. Mhm. Soon. Cool. Well, that should wrap it up for everything that's on the site. Check out the site. The site's had a lot of updates. It has. We're working hard. So. Um, things to mention. And if you're an avid listener, you'll know Arm is one of the main manufacturers, but he's an evil genius. He's going to be presenting at Nvidia's GTC 2022. Again. We're not in 2020, not in 2022 again, but GTC again in 2022. Yes. Is my second GTC? Third? Third, second? I don't know. They must like you. I guess. So you will be discussing how Predator utilizes their Omniverse platform. I'm excited for this one. Which we have covered extensively in episode 20 and 21. With Nvidia's Mike Guy. Yeah. So again, Omniverse is an interconnected 3D 3D design simulation and virtual reality ecosystem that offers a multitude of solutions for a multitude of problems. Yes. For us. In our use case, we use it to did did. Why did I just do that? Digitize. Workflows within our bicycle design process. Too many D's in that one. As well as creating a virtual twin of our real life manufacturing floor processes. It's all very techy and very intense. Yes. And it's I mean, actually the super exciting side of it for us is it's the first time we're actually discussing our back end operating system. Which we call IO work. Publicly. We've never really discussed it before. Yeah. And you need to explain IO is not I. The letter I and the letter O. Oh no. Which I think already probably exists somewhere. No, we're talking about IO. A Y O. Yes. For our Armenian friends and family, that means yes. It does. That's what it means. It means work. Work, girl. Yes. Uh, yeah. So that's that's our back end operating system that we run here. That we've been working on for the long. It feels like ever. Hey man, we manufacture, we design and now we create software. Yes. We do it all. So join Arm and his recorded chat regarding Predator and Omniverse at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference. And it was supposed to be in San Jose, but because pandemic won't go away. Because people won't let it. Wear masks. It's now virtual. Wear masks, get vaccines. I mean, where is San Jose? California, right? Yeah. Yeah. Where is San Jose? It's just south of San Francisco. It's where mom went to college. Actually. Okay, that would have been fun. In a in a bizarro world. Where we actually could go out in public. Yeah, that'd be great. Okay. Um, and you're also going to, oh, so yeah. So that's going to be coming up. You're recording it. I think it's in. March. March? Check out Nvidia GPU and GPU conference online. And it'll probably tell you what day it is. Yeah. We're recording it now. So usually record it like a month beforehand. Three weeks. Yeah, I think it's it's next early part of next month. Okay. Um, and then you're also going to, oh, so yeah, so that's going to be coming up. You're recording it, I think it's in March. March? Check out Nvidia GPU and GPU conference online. And it'll probably tell you what day it is. Yeah. We're recording it now. So usually record it like a month beforehand. Three weeks. Yeah, I think it's it's next early part of next month. Okay. Um, and then you're also going to participate as a speaker for Autodesk's teaching with Tinkercad. Yep. That's exciting. Which is a career and technical educational panel where. I guess you are talking directly to educators that teach and explore solutions for future engineers, designers, etcetera. Yeah. Like like. schoolers or high schoolers or college students. I believe it's middle school. I believe it's middle school teachers. Okay. Mostly. Um, I took I think it's like 100, 150 teachers. Okay, so you're talking to the teachers themselves. Yes. And you're talking about how you use AutoCAD? Yes, so talking about CAD in general. Um, Okay. I'm not a I'm a thinkercad user myself. Um, but a Tinkercad is used as a teaching tool software to gateway you into the CAD world. Okay. But they use you as real life uh experiences making actual products. Because the thing about education is you can talk theory all you want, but you got to talk about how it's actually used in real life scenarios. Right. So it's just talking about how you can CAD is actually a a, you know, it it's uh it's a really good fundamentals for the future for people to learn how to do things. So. And I believe these are recorded and are a part of a larger web series that gets posted on YouTube from Autodesk. I believe that's true. I believe that's true. So I I googled a few of them and there are episodes up. Yeah, I I think they sent me a link and I need to update some stuff on there and send it back and anyway. What they should teach in these is that real life professionals don't have any time to research all the information about these things. There's no time. I. Um. Yes. So, be on the lookout for that. Yes. It should be fun. I'm excited for that. That that sounds like I don't know. Yeah. That seems cool. Anything else before we wrap up, my dear Valentine? No. Um, it's been a while, but hopefully we'll be get back to regular podcasts again. Yeah. We've had we got a lot of things to discuss and got a lot of new stuff we've been working on. We've been working really hard here, so. Yeah. And I'm not holding a baby this time, so we now have a. Yes. Baby sitter. Yep. Family. Anyway. Anything else? No. Okay. Well, let's get to it. Yes. Monday morning. Okay. 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.
EpisodeFeb 14, 2022 · 38:11
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Project Breakaway with Predator Cycling
34: 3D Printed Product Blitz! Ribmount, Spire, and Hook Plugs, EP. 34
In this episode, Courtney and Arm of Predator Cycling announce a "3D Printed Product Blitz," introducing new items like the Ribmount computer mount, Spire aero bar components, and Hook Plugs. They explain why a composite company is embracing 3D printing, highlighting its role in meeting evolving customer demands, navigating supply chain challenges, and providing economical yet structurally sound products.
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