Written by: Jeff Banowetz
Posted: Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Chicagoan Patrick Nardi couldn’t figure out a good place to
put his race number on his bike. So he invented one.
Necessity is the mother of invention. But it was a sticky
bike that really got Patrick Nardi’s mind working.
Nardi, like many triathletes, wasn’t sure how to attach his
race number to this bike. He didn’t like it flapping in the wind, but using
tape meant that he had to clean a sticky bike afterward and alter the race
number to get it to fit. So when he bought a new carbon-fiber bike, he realized
he had a problem.
“I had this beautiful new bike, and I didn’t want to put a
sticker on the frame,” he recalls. “So I started experimenting with a clothes
hanger to see if I could create a better way to attach the number.”
His final solution led to the formation of his own company, Nardi & Associates, and the manufacturing of an ultralight race number mount that allows
you to easily display your number without messing up your frame—and it now looks
nothing like a clothes hanger.
The adjustable arm is attached to a bike via zip ties and
offers athletes the flexibility to mount the number on the top tube, down tube
or seat post, whichever works best for their style of bike.
He launched the product this summer, and Nardi has already
had success getting into bike stores and selling direct to consumers.
“Bike stores love the ideas, but cause they hate cleaning
old race numbers off of bike frames,” he says.
Nardi’s quick transition from an idea to finished product
mirrors his embrace of triathlon. He started training for the Memphis in May
race in 2005 because “I was nearly 200 pounds, and I’m only five-foot-six,” he
says, “I thought it was a good way to get back in shape.”
After one race, he was hooked. The next year he competed his
first Ironman in Florida—a week before his wedding.
“It was a kinds of crazy thing to do, but we pulled it off,”
he says.
This year he’ll be sticking to mostly Olympic distance
races, since he’s trying to balance his “real job” in pharmaceutical sales with
the new company. He and his wife, Paige, are also expecting their first child
in November.
“I just love being a part of the triathlon community,” he
says. “You meet so many great people, and everyone’s friendly and wants to get
to know you.”
He’ll find a lot more people trying to get to know him once
they notice the clever device on his bike.
The Velotak bracket is available now at Element Multisport
and Mission Bay. For more info, visit www.velotak.com.
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