Eurobike 2024 was the company’s launching pad. The company, operating out of New Zealand, now has major brands engaged in supplying data in what was historically a closed-off world. But, what has been their secret to success? Bike Europe caught up with two of the three co-founders, Adam Townsend and Lyndon Bailey, to discuss the challenges and complexities of taking on such a project.

“The idea of enabling parts-matching through the entire supply chain is something that we identified as being able to help the bike industry progress,” said Townsend. “Everything from being able to do pre-production design spec checking all the way through to the DIY mechanic buying parts online and servicing and repairing in the bike workshops, insurance companies, digital passports, and all of these other interconnected technologies, which are emerging now.”

Bike component compatibility through advanced algorithms

The proprietary, mechanic-led compatibility algorithms assess the suitability of potential components at a granular level taking all of the surrounding components into consideration and not just a like-for-like replacement.

“When we built our proof of concept, we put 25 brands in the database, but just enough information that we could process brake pad compatibility. So, in our system that's been integrated on a couple of customers websites, you can check brake pad compatibility for 25,000 bikes,” said Bailey.  

Besides the collaboration with bike brands, from a component manufacturer’s perspective, data-sharing has been welcomed and Bike Matrix already can count on specs from 70+ component manufacturers.

Collaboration is key

“Digitisation and collaboration are not something that the bicycle industry is most famous for, and it's very much been a legacy market,” explains Townsend, pointing to the historically closed nature of the industry when it comes to sharing data. “Suddenly with the e-mobility and micro-mobility trends, you've got other vehicle manufacturers, particularly automotive, looking at the way we're doing things in the bicycle industry.”

Bike Matrix’s extensive database of bikes and components is growing constantly, and it is free for brands to list their products. The tool aims to offer seamless integrations with online stores, in-store POS systems, workshop portals or other service platforms through its own Shopify App and simple APIs.

“We essentially built the service so that it could be utilised by the entire industry, but as a B2B service, so providing the service to the online retailer that they can then provide to their customer. We are looking at it in a more holistic way that can fully support the industry,” concludes Bailey.