"Ingenious" bike storage rail earns £100,000 Dragons' Den investment

Is that one of those new pronouns?

Owd Big 'Ead wrote:

"Ooh, I could make something just as good with a few nails and a packet of Hula Hoops". Sure you could, but would it make hundreds of thousands pounds of profit? The Dragons want a return on their investment. Some folk on here haven't got a clue.

People aren't talking about whether they could make hundreds of thousands of profit (which it has yet to be seen whether this does) but, quite reasonably, about how daft it is that someone's charging four figure prices for something that is quite easy to replicate for bobbins if you want to, or if you want a readymade article can be had for about £100, e.g. this

Perhaps you should read the article a bit better then Rendel as the founder clearly states his turnover and yearly profits, instead of coming along to act like the forum know-it-all.

It's extremely unlikely that the figures stated aren't somewhere in the ball park as the Dragons do not invest unless due diligence matches suggested figures.

Comprende?

Perhaps you should read the comments, including your own, a bit better then as nobody was discussing whether the product will make a profit or not but a) whether it's overpriced, b) that the same product is available much cheaper elsewhere and c) how easy it is to replicate the product on a DIY basis.  I'm not sure quite why you feel the need to be aggressive and rude about an issue that hasn't even been raised but doubtless you have your reasons.

I think it can cause a problem with hydraulic forks and suspension too.

That's why I'm a fan of the Steadyrack - it hangs on the front wheel but the pressure is on the tyre rather than the rim so the forces are in the same direction as with riding.

InTheLakes wrote:

Is my bike insurer the only one that insists the bike is locked so the lock goes through the frame when not in use, even if stored indoors.

I don't know about your insurance company, but mine (Laka) does not require bikes to be locked while in a private, non-publicly accessible storage location. This includes inside the home, garage or shed (providing it's only accessible by members of the household), a locked vehicle, or if travelling and staying in a holiday home or hotel.

Bikes only need to be locked if left unattended in the open, or in a publicly accessible area (including communal storage) and must be locked to an immovable object with a rated Sold Secure Gold or Diamond lock.

What sort of bike ? My insurer if my ebike says it has to be locked when stored in the garage.

Contrary to what we are lead to believe, not everything is about e-bikes.
Your reasoning is like saying brands making road cycling clothing are doing it wrong 'because clearly the now elderly cyclists don't want to wear lycra on their e-bikes'.
This product is mostly marketed at bike shops and enthousiasts owning several (usually lightweight) bikes who are willing to pony up the premium prices of his product.

Vertical storing of big, heavy e-bikes brings a whole set of extra challenges. Will the ceiling or the wall be able to carry the load? Will people use the right mountaing hardware, and in the proper way? How do you add this lifting mechanism to it without raising the price way beyond the scope of the very people you claim he should make it for? And there's many more challenges to it.
It probable that he just chooses avoid all that and not go that route, happily focussing an specific market with a simpler product.

I'm just waiting for wtjs to pop up and state "eBikes?  Hanging's too good for them"!

Another imaginary misattribution. All I said was: e-biking is not the same as real cycling. All that means is that, when you're on a real bike, worn out and with a long way to go, there's no button to press to make it easier because there are hills and headwinds and you deserve a helping hand.

Not my battle * (especially on a thread that is about something else) - but ... I hear there is a tribe who ride distances on fixies.  And presumably have earned the right - if they felt that way - to decry any freewheel- and gear-using types as not really cycling all those miles?

* It seems even though I "get" EAPCs (#cyclingiscycling) I still have some feelings of e-skepticism.  (FWIW I think it's more to do with "luddite" than "cheating").

I think the idea is to do it on the vertical ...

This way if the hooks fail the bikes just fall a few inches downwards, no harm done...

It is pretty clearly advertised that the system is more than that: the hooks are on rails, where they can move and rotate, the system is modular etc. Can your hooks take the same load as these? Or are they as scratchproof? And if you overlubricate your chain and ride in the wet you have things dripping independent of the method of storage.

You can buy all the bits of this from certain Chinese websites for very little money.  What these guys have done brilliantly, is exploit people's laziness etc.  Good luck to them.  Some people would never dream of buying this and DIY, other will pay hugely over the odds and be happy as Larry.  Capitalism innit thou?