Do you fancy going to Taiwan to follow up on the development process and to negotiate pricing? Maybe only for a vacation since none of our products are made in Taiwan.
Who are some of the riders that give good feedback on the products that make your life easier?
Too many to list really. We often get emails and letters from folks using our neck brace thanking us for literally saving their necks. We also have pro riders like Mike Day, Emilio Fala, Sifiso Nhlapo, Caroline Buchanon, Sarah Walker and Sander Bisseling who give us feedback on the brace. Sander actually sent us a
photo of a very gnarly crash he had a few months ago where he went head first into the ground while still clipped in. The brace broke, which is exactly what it is designed to do under such heavy impacts. The Thoracic bar (the rear section on the brace that sits parallel to your spine) is built to break under one third of the required pressure exactly for this reason. If it did not break all that force would be transferred to your body. So Sanders feedback was pretty good as he walked away from that crash and the brace did its job. Leatt just won the Product Innovation Award at Eurobike as
well which we are all very happy about.
Do you have secret product testers out there or do the team riders take care of that?
Most of us at Leatt ride either dirt bikes, road bikes, BMX or Mountain bikes so we test the products ourselves. Team rider feedback is also taken into consideration as well.
Big tires, big bars, slammed seats, small gearing and lightweight. What's next? A matching Leatt-Brace! The safer you stay the more you can ride that new school bike. It's hard to say what we will see on bikes but it will definitely be some part made even simpler. I have seen some very cool hydroformed race frames from GT and for the freestyle side of things I always expect the next big part change to come from WETHEPEOPLE.
How hard is it to come up with a colour for your products?
Colour is no problem and we are always experimenting with different ones. We definitely have some new ideas in terms of colours so watch this space...
Are you scared of the mandatory paint/colour testing or do you not worry about that yet?
Not at all. It obviously does not apply to our product in the same capacity that it does the bike companies but our brace has been tested and contains no trace or lead or anything remotely as toxic.
How important is pricepoint for your products? It is important and our line has price levels starting at our very
popular Club brace and then the bling carbon Sport brace. When it comes to protection, the more you spend the safer you are.
Can you explain how hard it is to put an original idea into a final product?
It is an evolution from mind to drawing board to physical realization to testing to final product. Dr Chris Leatt our CEO went through vigorous testing and many prototypes to finally arrive at the product you see around many riders necks. We have all the prototypes on display in our foyer and there is a huge evolution from the very first brace to what you can purchase today.
What is a 2010 product you designed that you are most proud of?
All our designers do some amazing work but you will have to wait until next year.
What's the worst design in BMX at the moment? Probably anything made by people who do not participate in or are involved in bicycles.
What do you think is a clever product?
These plastic/nylon pedals are interesting because on the evolutionary scale they are a few steps backwards but just make a lot of sense here and now. Cheap, simple, strong and and folks buy even more as different colour options are made available.
Why do people need to look into your brand?
Peace of mind. Our product is innovative and the first one out there. We have a large lab where the Biomechanics guys do a lot of comparative testing with other devices as well as with the Leatt-Brace. Our neck brace took a very long time to develop and is now a staple of safety equipment. A big misconception is that the brace is only used by Motocross racers which is not true. The Moto folks are the core of our business but our product is also used by bicycle riders.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.