Bob Dopolina 

I'm not sure if the title is clear enough.

I'm thinking about making wheel covers like these. It's basically a nylon cover held on the wheel by an elastic on the inner diameter.
What I like about them is that you can slip them over the wheel and put the wheel back on your bike for transport. Or you can use them to protect wheels you have stored or hanging up.

They would be around $20/pr.

I know wheel bags are for more protective but they are bulky and don't do much for you if your bike is on the roof or your car. These roll up to the size of a pair of socks and you could toss them in your trunk.

I'm also thinking or making 2 models so they would cover different depth wheels.

Any feedback on this? Dumb idea or the best cycling related product of this millennium?

kleng

Sorry, but I think Continental already make what your talking about. Not sure how readily available they are though.

Vittoria also make a rubber version, https://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...d6e0bd482fa04a

Bob Dopolina 

Look closely at the picture I posted and you can see that they are Continental branded covers.

I'm curious as to what people think of them and if I should develop and brand my own.

Thanks, though.

Val23708

probably should call them tire and rim covers...

kleng

Their not usually available so you would have a market.

Matt Gaunt

Mmmmmm, Lightweight...

Yeah, great idea - I've never seen those covers for sale at an LBS and they could be pretty useful.

z415

Maybe, with the elastic, you can make it as an one-size-fits-all dealie and have it fit 700c, 650c, 26", and 29". That'll probably make it more worth it for you.

jonestr

Not to burst your bubble, and there is a market for this sort of thing, but I usually just cut some tubes and use those for this purpose

Bob Dopolina 

I'm a little beyond bubble bursting...

The tubes would protect your tire but aren't wide enough to protect your rim. I am thinking of 1 version similar to the Continental ones I posted and another, much wider version for all the guys running 50mm+ deep aero rims.

Thanks for the input.

BillyD

Well Bob, I think they would be a great product for the eccentric and anally retentive among us (not that there's anything wrong with that), but the problem is those folks tend to occupy the tail end(s) of the distribution curve. In short, how big is the market for these things . . . how many are you going to sell?

Bob Dopolina 

That would be the exact point that this thread is intended to address.

If you're actually interested in the process it would go something like this (and this would be true for all the products I bring to market):

I would probably have to make 1000pcs to meet a min qty. That's 500 sets.
Remember that I am working in a global market. That would mean a few hundred in NA, Some to Europe and another few hundred in Asia.

Once I sold through those I could determine if I was going to re-invest in this product or not. If I decide not to I will still have made a little money and can move on to the next project.

If I'm still sitting on 495 sets next year then I blow them out, offer them as prizes at races or sponsor a team with them. It would be a loss but I could still get some mileage out of the product if I really needed to.

Personally, I really like this product and I am pretty sure I will go ahead with it but I am looking for feedback regarding design, marketability or anything else that friendly end-users would care to point out that could help me produce a better product.

BillyD

Got'cha.


Um, you sure you're in the right place Bob?

Have you tried other forums? C&V, 50+ or other civilized venues?

Bob Dopolina 

Harr!

botto 

afraid so.

Jynx

I dont get what there supposed to do? Protect your tires and rim in transport. They dont seem very effective. The benefit of full wheel bags is so things dont get tangled in the spokes when transported. These dont really do anything.

nitropowered

I might get a few. I dont like driving to races with my expensive cross tubulars on the roof and these would work perfectly

Bob Dopolina 

As I mentioned in the original post wheel bags are certainly more effective in protecting your wheels but you can't put wheels in wheel bags and then put them on the roof of your car. For some, this is the reality they face when traveling to a race: One set of wheels, on the bike, on the roof of the car, on the back of the car or in the trunk.

I have actually had low, overhanging branches slice my tire while my bike was being transported on the roof of our team car. These covers would have prevented that. In fact, the cost of the bags is less than 1 GP4000s. If I'd used them then I still would have come out ahead.

Thanks for your post, though. The feedback is still helpful.

stedalus

Can't say I personally would ever have a use for these, but I can imagine a niche market. One way to distinguish yourself from the existing products is to put in snaps or zippers so that you can put them on the wheels without taking them off the frame.

Bob Dopolina 

Agreed. But I'm all about the niche.

Sort of like warm-up pants that basketball players use...interesting idea.

Thanks.

stedalus

Heh, that brings back fond memories of high school. Fortunately you don't need to run snaps all the way along the cover, just at one spot.

My other thought was that I associate these with track bikes, so maybe you can get some of that hipster dollar.

The Carpenter

Back in the '70's and early '80's we used "wheel covers" for our track bikes. Back then everyone was on tubulars and you wanted to protect your race tires. Even the training tires wern't all that cheap and you wanted to keep them from damage.

The covers would fit any size wheel because they were not a closed circle. They were linear in design with an elastic band running the length of each side that had a hook at each end (4 hooks per cover). You would place one end of the cover over the tire and attach the hooks to the spokes, work the cover around the wheel and attach the hooks on the other end as needed.
This can be done WITHOUT removing the wheel from the bike.

Back then we didn't have aero wheels, but as I recall the covers would have worked well with todays deep section wheels. As a kid I always thought it would be cool if my rims were as big as my covers.

My Dad carried our bikes to the track on a roof rack that held the bikes up-side down and we never had a problem with the covers coming off or catching wind. The wheels would just spin.
I would like to find some like that for my Daughters track bike.

With that I will say that we NEVER used them on our road bikes.
Maybe you should cross post in the track forum.

rollin

Do a set of cover with snow chains and I think you'd shift a few!

Can't see the point on the roadbike personally. The wheels are never dirty enough to care about throwing them in the boot. Cross or mountainbike might be more interested

Good luck.

Bob Dopolina 

All, great feedback so far.

Much appreciated.

iab

Also don't forget the reproduction market. Brand your covers with Clement, Dugast, D'Alessandro, etc and you'll get some sales from the C&V crowd. And, I have a couple of bikes that get minimal miles in a year that have expensive tires. I have vintage covers to protect the rubber from UVs. I may be paranoid but it can't hurt.

jonestr

Why dont you make something that covers all the way to the hub to cover the spokes yet is still easy on easy off and allows them to be used during transport?

Maybe that is the winning idea, but probably not as it came from me.