The founder of a Guelph business in the bicycle industry says it’s not common for North American manufacturers to come away as a gold award winner at the EUROBIKE Award in Germany, but that’s just what Wike did with its innovative bike-stroller combo.
Bob Bell, owner of Guelph-based Wike, said this is the first year the company has participated in the Eurobike Award.
“We have never been at the show before. We are an outsider. A lot of the people that compete in the show every year are the big global brands,” said Bell. “We’re just a little company on Stevenson Street, we’re not a global corporation, although we sell all over the world.”
Wike submitted its Salamander convertible bike-stroller for consideration for the award. It took home a gold in its category. Bell said there is nothing else like it on the market.
“We had been working on a bicycle that converted into a stroller for some time,” said Bell. “In our first try we didn’t think we got it quite right — that was about four years ago. We started over and tried again and we’re pretty sure we have it nailed this time. Winning the gold award at the show sort of confirms that we have solved the problem.”
In total, 366 entires were submitted to the EUROBIKE Award, and a small number of those were invited to display at the show in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
“At the show they decide the gold winners,” said Bell. “We were one of them.”
Canadians and Americans are not often gold winners, said Bell, partly because Europeans tend to be so much further ahead in bicycle culture and innovation.
“It’s like a little country winning at the Olympics. You expect the big countries to win, but the little countries win it’s a bit different,” said Bell.
Since the EUROBIK show, Bell said he has been approached by a number of large global brands interested in the design.
Earlier this year, Bell and the Salamander appeared on an episode of Dragons' Den, in which all of the Dragons passed on an opportunity to invest in the company.
Wike has a worldwide patent on the design, said Bell, and intends on defending it.
“We are in the process of opening up a legal entity in the EU that will sell to European bike shops,” said Bell.
