#1152

Interbike

Throw thousands of bike loving professionals and enthusiasts into a building for 3 days and you can be sure that lots of things will happen. Interbike is a place and time when countless deals are hashed out, thousands of decisions are finalized, and perhaps millions of opinions are made. Not all of these are positive. We got first hand evidence of that when we stopped by the Lezyne booth to check out the beautiful tools that were on display there. Just as we were looking at media-loved replaceable Y wrenches;
A gentlemen came up and asked to speak to the owner. Instead he spoke to the tools designer and promptly produced this tool from his pocket:












A tool he had developed, patented and was selling "quite a few of" from this website. Although the patent was pending, he still believed that it would afford him some protection in this case and it was obvious that he believed that Lezyne had copied it. He was not aggressive in his manner at all. The conversation took place calmly, although with a certain tension. Nothing of course was decided as more people on Lezyne's side would have to get involved. But it was an interesting example of how one man's innovation is another man's possession.