pedaldabs
Laser Reproductions Helps Local Cyclist Commercialize Idea

May, 2012

Challenge

Kurtis Meyer worked at a bike shop in Columbus, Ohio while in college. He has seen many bicyclists hassle with choosing between clipless bike shoes or regular street shoes for rides, or changing between clipless and platform pedals on their bikes.

To use clipless pedals riders must have compatible cycling shoes. The shoes have plastic or metal cleats attached to the bottom that snap onto the clipless pedals. When the shoe is attached to the pedal, the cyclists’ feet will not slip off the pedals, increasing efficiency.

Most riders like to alternate between street shoes and bike shoes depending on where they are riding, but switching pedals to accommodate this is inconvenient. It is also unsafe to use street shoes on a bike that has clipless pedals because there is no tread.

Kurtis designed pedaldabs^TM to allow bicyclists to ride on their existing clipless pedals with normal street shoes. pedaldabs^TMare temporary, self-righting, and grippy plastic frames that fit all common clipless setups.

With his idea developed, the next challenge for Kurtis was how to test his patent-pending design cost-effectively.

Solution

Kurtis previously ordered a prototype from an Internet company, but was not satisfied with the type of build and inability to discuss options with an expert. Kurtis then found Laser Reproductions. Through five SLA prototypes and 38 computer design iterations, Kurtis and the team at Laser Reproductions produced a design that could be injection molded with the RTV process.

Result

The pedaldabs^TM produced by the Laser Reproductions’ RTV process were tested by bicyclists in Columbus. Kurtis also investigated US-based tooling and production with the help of Laser Reproductions while he collected ideas from his testers.

On May 22, pedaldabs^TM and bikedabs^TM t-shirts became available for preorder on fundable.com, a local Columbus crowd-funding site. Preorders and donations will fund injection molding expenses.

Pending a successful fundraise, pedaldabs^TM will be available in bike shops starting in August, as well as online. Kurtis is looking forward to future collaborations with the staff at Laser Reproductions as bikedabs^TMinvestigates future American-made products!

Check them out here: http://www.bikedabs.com/

http://www.fundable.com/bikedabs

Watch the video!