CQ27_FINAL_SPREADS (1)

raced by Kiwi rider George
Jackson in the scratch race.
“I was holding my breath the
whole time! I wasn’t in full
control of the manufacturing
process, so I didn’t know what
potential defects were in it, but
I did know how rushed it had all
been. It got through really well,
thankfully, and they were signed
off by the UCI. We were now
ready to go for production and
Tokyo.”
With Cycling New Zealand
helping out with the required
UCI paper-pushing and boxticking,
Catchpole could focus
on finding a factory for mass
manufacturing. “They are made
in Asia, using the factory that
makes equipment for Argon 18
and a few other well recognized
components for track and road
bikes. It took a few months
for tooling, and we had a few
prototypes and samples to
refine, but as soon as the clock
hit midnight for January 1st
2020 we launched the product
online as a pre-order. Within
that first week we had already
sold maybe three or four sets to
riders around the world.”
With production now in place,
everything was lining up for the
Olympic debut of the Bunch
Bars. What could possibly go
wrong?
Worth the wait
They say every cloud has
a silver lining. With the
Olympics delayed a year due
to a worldwide pandemic, the
mechanics and riders now found
themselves with more time to
test and select the best product
when competition was allowed
again. “By the time Tokyo 2020
was finally cancelled a bunch of
other teams from around the
world had already jumped on
the bandwagon, getting in touch
and wanting some to run them
for when they could race again.”
The trend continued, Catchpole
shipping his Bunch Bars to some
familiar-sounding locations.
“I’d see a name I didn’t know
but the shipping address was
the Manchester velodrome or
something like that. They all
bought them legitimately, very
few discounts given.
“Although a lot of the teams are
quite secretive with their data
and testing, there was some
good feedback saying that they
were quicker than a lot of other
bars they’ve tested. In the rush
because of the UCI urgency I
didn’t really have the proper
time or the funds to do any indepth
aero testing, so this was
some great validation.”
The extra time gave Catchpole
the opportunity to extend his
product range too, working
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