The surge in popularity of Zwift and other platforms during the pandemic has changed cycling forever and a whole new sport has already begun to develop for professional and amateur cyclists, Sean Kelly believes.
The Carrick-on-Suir man now has skin in the game having
worked with business partner Barry Meehan and design engineer Stephen Farrell
in creating the IndoorVelo.
It clips onto the handlebars of any bike and is designed to securely hold in place two devices – phone, laptop or tablet – within easy reach of riders, when they are training indoors.
The KickStarter campaign for the new project is aiming to raise €50,000 towards mass production and has gone well since it was launched last week.
The IndoorVelo is available at an early bird price of €125 for the tablet and mobile version and €139 for the tri version. The price is €139 for the laptop and mobile version and there’s a €245 carbon model also on sale.
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Kelly has been spending more time on the home trainer of late as he recovers from a crash late last year. He came out of that incident with a broken collarbone, five broken ribs and a concussion, saying it was his “worst ever” crash on a bike.
The former world No 1 said while cyclists had now been training indoors for years and training platforms were not new, the Covid-19 lock-downs had accelerated the growth already underway in the indoor area of the sport.
Kelly said pro teams, the UCI and national cycling federations had all engaged with virtual platforms in the past year like they never had before.
And he was
hopeful the IndoorVelo device was being launched at the right time and into an
exploding market globally.
“There are so
many people now doing a lot of training indoors and it's all over the world
now. So we decided we'd get this device to the point where we thought it was
perfect, and we’re at point now. And then we said we’d just go for it.”
He added some top pro riders had raced on Zwift during the spring and summer last year purely because they were ordered to by their teams. However, that situation had already changed and even the most traditional players in the sport were embracing virtual cycling now.
While there were already 'Zwift pros' – competing exclusively on virtual platforms – he believed organised and sanctioned racing - rather than more informal or group-based racing - was about to explode.
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“We’re going to
see a lot more racing on Zwift and these are going to be recognised events. We've
had World Championships already last year and that’s the way it’s going to
continue.
“You will definitely have amateurs and professionals doing a series of races right through the season and that’s not going to change even when the lock-downs are gone. It’s a huge opportunity for cycling.”
He also agreed with recent comments by Darach McQuaid, chairman of Team BikeExchange, that Zwift cycling combined with Zoom could hook up CEOs with cycling teams and their top riders in a way that could draw in sponsorship.
“Previously you’d get a name of someone in a company, maybe from someone you knew on the inside, and you’d work away on it that way,” Kelly said of trying to attract sponsors.
“But Zwift can be a huge shortcut. And if you can get CEOs interested in virtual cycling and get them connected directly with your riders; that’s a really big leap forward.”
Of his recent crash, he said he was out on his mountain
bike when he tangled with another rider, went over the handlebars and crashed hard
on his left side.
“I broke the collarbone, five ribs and I was concussed for a bit of time as well. It was my heaviest fall, the worst fall I've ever had,” he said.
Kelly continued of his crash late last year: “The ribs were very sore for the first week and while the collarbone was sore as well, I had experience of a broken collarbone before.
“Sometimes you can break your collarbone and it’s not that bad. I did it once in Paris Nice, and I had very little pain; rode for about 60km to the finish that day. But this time I was very painful for the first few days."
He joked that having broken his right collarbone twice during his career and his left collarbone once, breaking his left for a second time recently meant he was now "more balanced".
“I've also had concussion before; I had it back when I was racing. But in those days, of course maybe 30 years ago, you didn’t know," he said.
“When you had a crash the doctor would just check you out
and if you are able to stand you were put back on your bike, you were pushed
off and you got going again.”
However, he was now recovering well in recent weeks after his crash late last year and was long back on his home trainer. He expected to be back on the road next week after recent X-rays revealed his bones were knitting back together perfectly.
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