New Tassie-based business Cycle Inspect has announced the first local bike mechanic to offer its carbon fibre inspection service: The Bike Van.
Cycle Inspect was started by South Hobart’s Michael Briggs after he laid out $1500 for a second-hand carbon fibre bike for his dad, only to later find it was riddled with hidden issues when sent to a specialist repairer.
This experience, and several others since, prompted Briggs to explore ways to remove barriers for bike owners to access skilled specialists and the most accurate technology to proactively identify and assess visible and hidden issues before it’s too late. Briggs therefore wanted to develop a holistic solution that addressed some of these critical barriers and that empowered trusted local bike mechanics to confidently answer questions around frame integrity.
“From our market research, we identified that over 75% of cyclists preferred a local inspection solution from their trusted local mechanic to those offered by specialist repairers. This, to us, was encouraging and suggested that riders appreciate that ‘personal touch’ from a familiar an impartial source, in addition to overcoming traditional barriers of cost and accessibility” Briggs said.
Leveraging learnings from a research partnership with Deakin University, Briggs and co-founder and Sports Scientist Andrew Novak have developed the industry’s first standardised inspection procedure making it easier for novice technicians to learn the skill. In addition, Michael and Andrew (with the help of advisor and NDT industry veteran Garrett Booth) developed a training and accreditation scheme centred around ultrasound and visual inspection methods to raise the quality and consistency of the trade globally. To reduce the guess-work and to streamline the inspection process, Cycle Inspect have also developed a web-based tool that harnesses their research in order to provide assessments, recommendations, reports and certificates that identify the presence of any underlying issues, the need for repair and, ultimately, the risk to cyclist safety.
Cycle Inspect trains and assesses bike mechanics in the necessary foundational theory of composite materials and ultrasound before progressing to practical skills training and assessments. Once skills and knowledge meet the required standards, provisional accreditation is awarded and off they go. The store can purchase the training, hardware and software package outright, or opt for a ‘lease to own’ model over 24 months.
Cycle Inspect ran at stall at the recent Melbourne Bike Show.
“We received a fantastic response from local bike shop owners, distributors and mobile mechanics,” Briggs said.
“We have our first customers in Australia, the UK, Europe and the US and are hoping to announce more partners across Singapore, Canada and Europe shortly.
The first Australian shop to take on Cycle Inspect was Giant Hampton in Victoria, but now local bike mechanic Matt Levis, who runs The Bike Van, has joined the ranks. Matt commences training in December, and hopes to begin offering this service to Tasmanians by February or March next year.
“To be able make sure your carbon bike is safe to ride in Tasmania is currently a long and involved process. Being Tasmania’s first mobile bicycle mechanic, I can travel to the customer and I am excited to be able offer this inspection service around the state” said Levis.
Levis also sees the broader benefits for cyclists in Tasmania, and believes Cycle Inspect is the best solution to address their emerging needs to ensure peace of mind in what they are riding, buying or plan to sell:
“To be able to identify damage early is a win for safety, and your wallet. I’ve chosen Cycle Inspect as the training and data is specific to bicycles. To have access to training, tools, support and a growing database of bike information is a solution that makes sense for me”.