Tyres are critical to the overall performance of your vehicle and play a vital role to your safety. Your experience is in many cases directly governed by the quality of your tyres and the grip they provide. Yet the majority of the 220 million European bicycle users rarely consider their tyres in relation to road condition or weather. Millions of wheelchair users don’t have the option to change their tyres. We change our footwear in accordance to the immediate conditions and needs, and the amazing market feedback and sales numbers from the launch of reTyre have proven that this is also something we want for our tyres.
Problem/Issue being adressed:
1. Difficulty to change the tyre
Tyres are today inherently difficult to change. This is a key fact for users of bicycles, motorcycles and scooters, resulting in suboptimal performance such as low grip and traction, or high rolling resistance. For users of wheelchairs, strollers and rollators the tyres often cannot be changed at all, forcing these users to involuntary immobility during icy, snowy or otherwise difficult road conditions.
2. Rapidly changing road conditions affect the riding experience
Rapidly changing weather and road conditions, especially during seasonal changes, increases the problem with maintaining optimal grip and function. When cycling in late autumn and early spring the challenge of sudden ice leaves the biking community without any adequate solution for quick adaptation. For four-wheel vehicles this is not critical due to high level of protection, but for two-wheel vehicles such as bicycles and motorcycles, correct grip is crucial for safety.
3. Unsustainable rubber consumption for bicycle tyres
It is very unfortunate, both environmentally and economically, that conventional tyres consume an unsustainable amount of rubber in the industry as huge amounts of tyres are discarded when the thread pattern is worn out. The tread of the tyre is what gives the vehicle grip and functionality, which means that discarding the whole tyre represent an unnecessary waste of rubber.
Increased use of bicycles as means of transportation is a major global macro trend and the timing for our innovation is ideal. Massive increase in sales of winter tyres in Europe show how major investments into infrastructure has increased all-year biking, and the international tyre industry have reported an average annual growth of 6% over the last five years well above industry standards. Cyclists adapt quickly to new technology and play a key role in achieving a sustainable urban environment. Our innovation is aligned with EU priorities for easily scalable and profitable initiatives towards greener urban transportation as it promotes increased year-round use of bicycles. reTyre is an internationally scalable way to facilitate cycling, improve mobility for elderly and wheelchair users and increase security for scooter and motorcycle users.
Overall objectives:
- Development, manufacturing and testing of reTyre System - Achieving industrial readiness
- Global commercialization
