We’re a bit giddy around here at Purely Custom as the first production run of Wheel Risers are getting ready to be shipped.  Nearly fifty Wheel Risers are on the production floor and getting their last additions of a knob here, a wheel there and a thorough quality check before any leave the plant.  Since introducing the Wheel Riser at Trek World and Interbike this past summer it seems like a long wait; however, for good reason, the prototype stage to production stage is a little more complex.

How Did It Come About

When bike fitter’s and a design engineers put their heads together, you know the ideas are going to start flowing.  The Wheel Riser came about when it was asked “what If we take the lift off of the 360 platform and rebuild something to work independently of a platform.”  That’s the great thing about Purely Custom, our ideas are always coming in from bike fitters, customers and partners and we actually have the resources to tinker with these ideas and manufacture something in our facility in Twin Falls, Idaho.

So before this product even had a name, it was already destined for greatness.  As Design Engineer, Eric Saunders states, “I like it that the Wheel Riser came out very clean and every design requirement was fulfilled.”  Quite often in the design of a product the ideas can get a little wild, but this one sets the mark as a versatile performer.

This Makes Sense

Whenever we would show the prototype around people would say, “This makes sense.”   Similar tools before it were designed to just level a bike and this tool has the ability to adjust changes in a rider’s elevation and even simulate climbing conditions up to a 20% grade.  Obviously this is important because it provides the fitter with an example of how the rider changes their riding position on hills or during a climb.  It also is essential for getting a bike completely level which is a necessity in the fit process and the Wheel Riser has been hailed as a highly accurate, high quality precision tool for this purpose.

This product is made solid and you can easily make height adjustments by hand or use a powered driver for quicker changes.  The wheels are perfect addition to being able to move the riser around or out of the way while you’re working in your fit studio.

Solid and Stable

At Interbike in September, we would encourage folks to pick up the Wheel Riser just to see their expression.  Each would be surprised at the weight and how durable this tool was constructed.   If fitters were going to use this during a fit session with a rider, we knew it needed to be stable.  Not only is it designed to accommodate a wide range of wheel diameters, from 20” to 29” it can also be used as a stable base for indoor training sessions or pre-race warmups.  The Wheel Riser has been a great addition to the Purely Custom lineup of fitting tools, all thoughtfully designed to help bike fitters reach accurate results.

Prototype to Production

Moving from the prototype stage to the production stage is not a short process.  When developing a prototype you are still in a changing development stage; however a production stage requires everything to be verified and precise.

A production print of the product as compared to a prototype print has to be thoroughly perfected and no details can be overlooked.  Eric Saunders, our Purely Custom Design Engineer stresses the importance of checking all tolerances right down to a precision fit pin.

If the tolerances are off, some parts could work, some might be loose, and some might not fit at all, and none of these outcomes are acceptable to our manufacturing standards.  Purely Custom manufactures everything right here in our plant except for the wheels and the bearings and in order to make something right, we follow an extensive order of operations from material purchases right down to quality checks.  It’s why our comprehensive suite of bike fitting tools is unmatched in the industry.

First Run of Fifty

Our first actual production run included fifty Wheel Risers so that we could manage the production process thoroughly.  As the process becomes perfected or if there should be a need for any product improvements, they can be managed during the early stages, and still be made.

Moving forward the time frame for production runs will take less time and larger quantities of product can be manufactured.  So the wait is over, and as the Wheel riser heads into full production, it’s time to check out your Wheel Riser now at dev.PurelyCustom.com and place your order today.

[thrive_leads id=’3853′]