, about his journey from making smart-phone speakers to ultra-compact inner tubes which, now, can come with in-built pressure-sensors. He explains why the cycling industry is still a place where entrepreneurs with amazing ideas can flourish.After high school, I studied mechanical engineering at the University of Technology in Vienna.
But we were keen hobby cyclists. I commute and mountain bike, Christian is more of a dedicated mountain biker, and Christian wondered aboutthat this material that was so special and high performance for phones, could have. Bikes have changed a lot over the years, and of course there is tubeless tyre technology, but inner tubes have stayed pretty much the same. So Christian had the idea of using TPU as an inner tube material.
What was it like having to deal with all the commercial considerations of running a business and how does the cycle industry compare with the mobile phone industry? In the UK, we supply Brompton’s T-Line range and the new Brompton x CHPT3 bikes. We have really enjoyed our collaboration with Brompton. The funny thing was, before we started with Brompton officially, some of our customers were already emailing us to ask for 16in tubes for Bromptons. We take every request very seriously, so we looked into it and felt it could be an interesting market. Then, soon after we started selling them as aftermarket items, Brompton got in touch.
Firstly, I think tubeless is a great technology with a number of advantages. But there are also downsides, such as the difficulty of mounting tyres. I think this is the point where Tubolito comes in. Previously, you had tubeless on one hand and butyl rubber tubes on the other, and the gap between them in terms of technology was wide. But now with Tubolito’s TPU inner tubes, its much closer to the benefits of tubeless with low weight and more puncture resistance.