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00:00:01
Travelling with Your Bike: Reducing Risk, Stress & Damage with Shokbox
33 Plays1 month ago
In this episode of UKTriChat, host Scott Hill is joined by Josh and Martin, founders of Shokbox, to explore one of the most stressful parts of triathlon and cycling: travelling with your bike.
Drawing on decades of riding experience and years spent designing bike travel solutions, they discuss how bike travel has evolved, why damage happens in transit, and what really goes on behind the scenes at airports. The conversation covers soft bags vs hard cases, airline handling, inspections, weight limits, and why stress often comes from the parts of the journey athletes don’t think about.
They also share practical advice for first-time bike travellers, common packing mistakes, and why thinking about the entire journey, not just the flight, can dramatically reduce risk and anxiety when travelling to races or training camps.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Backgrounds
00:00:01
Scott Hill
Okay, welcome to another episode of UK Tri Chat hosted by myself, Scott Hill from TriWolf Triathlon Coaching. Pleased to say tonight that we've got the the owners and founders of Shotbox um to talk to you tonight. We've got both Josh and Martin.
00:00:16
Scott Hill
So Josh Martin, I don't know if you want to introduce yourselves. Just tell us a bit about yourselves and the background behind behind you, not necessarily Shotbox as such.
00:00:26
Josh
I'm Josh. My background originally started in cycling from an early age really and um now more modern times into triathlon.
00:00:43
Josh
for the past year, ventured into that world.
The Triathlon Addiction
00:00:46
Josh
um
00:00:47
Josh
ah That's about me really.
00:00:49
Josh
um I went to university study marketing um and that's sort of my role and involvement in in Shotbox, ah sort of on the marketing side.
00:00:59
Scott Hill
Yeah, I'm fully aware of your participation in triathlon events that Martin's been telling me over the past few months back into last year.
00:01:07
Josh
Yeah, you and everybody else I think.
00:01:08
Scott Hill
sir The addiction's real, so I'm pleased to say that I'm sure we'll see you over the coming years in in that sport.
00:01:15
Josh
Yeah, no, I can confirm it's real.
00:01:17
Josh
It's, um yeah, definitely caught the bug.
00:01:18
Scott Hill
Yeah. Good. No, it's really pleasing to hear.
00:01:22
Josh
I think from my point, it's been really interesting to see how the bug, it showed some interest and how it's really just taken over.
00:01:37
Josh
and the transformation
00:01:40
Josh
in him both physically and um um um um mentally. It's been quite a... So that's why tend to tell everybody.
00:01:50
Josh
Yeah.
00:01:51
Scott Hill
No, it's good. it and it is an addictive sport and it does become a lifestyle. It's something I say all the time, but you're absolutely right. I mean, I say a lot of people, even people I work with, it's, you know, if if things are getting on top of you, bit stressed, have a break, go and go and do a bit of exercise, that's gym work, go for jog, whatever it is. And you come back so much more energized and ready to kickstart, you know, the rest of you work because you feel like you've achieved something.
00:02:14
Scott Hill
umor Endorphins and everything else have kicked in and and I think it's really positive. And it does sharpen the mind and sharpen the brain. And I think you can get so much more focus in in what you're doing, whether that's personal life, home life, family life, or even business life.
00:02:27
Scott Hill
So it's really, I think it's really important exercise.
00:02:28
Josh
Even better if it showed up on the balance sheet.
00:02:31
Josh
Sorry.
00:02:33
Scott Hill
Yeah. What about yourself, Martin?
00:02:35
Josh
So, yeah, I'm Martin Green, the founder of Shopbox.
00:02:41
Josh
We started Shopbox in 2014.
00:02:45
Josh
Previously to that, have various lives.
00:02:51
Josh
My background really is sales. something I did for many years and then in in in later life I moved into the fitness industry
00:03:05
Josh
ah My journey, my fitness background really, cycling has always been part of it.
00:03:14
Josh
and um I would neither describe myself as a cyclist or a triathlete.
00:03:18
Josh
What I would say is that I am a lover of bikes. and ah I ride bikes and I love bikes and everything to do with two wheels and taking them apart, putting them back together.
00:03:29
Josh
ah' tinkered around with them and I've been riding bikes, I think I would be right in saying across six decades.
00:03:35
Josh
And and i'm I'm a little a bit older than a look. but I rode bikes in the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s and the the last two decades.
00:03:47
Josh
And I need to keep going for a couple more really.
00:03:51
Josh
So really that's that's my background in
00:03:53
Scott Hill
Yeah. So you've probably been riding riding bikes before the boom happened as such then in both cycling and sort of the triathlete world.
00:03:58
Josh
Yeah, before the boom.
00:03:59
Josh
and and yeah Yeah, definitely.
Travel Challenges with Bikes
00:04:01
Scott Hill
Yeah. So what's your first memory then of traveling with bikes as such, whether, you know, that was,
00:04:01
Josh
um
00:04:06
Josh
Well, really, that would that would really probably have been in the 90s because before that, cycling abroad wasn't necessarily that accessible.
00:04:10
Scott Hill
yeah.
00:04:17
Josh
and And people would tend to travel with their bike in the car for European holidays. It just wasn't
00:04:28
Josh
as easy as it is now, really.
00:04:30
Scott Hill
Yeah, I guess that's the days when everyone had a massive Volvo where the boot was big enough that you could actually lie down and sleep in it as well. So you get me in there after the bikes in there as well.
00:04:36
Josh
Yes, yes.
00:04:42
Josh
Nevertheless, yeah. I mean, but back in those days, it was very difficult. And of course, there wasn't the choices for bike cases.
00:04:50
Josh
I mean, my my first experience of traveling really was with a soft bag.
00:04:56
Scott Hill
yeah
00:04:58
Josh
um You know, the internet didn't really exist.
00:05:02
Josh
And you went into a bike shop and bought a bike bag.
00:05:07
Josh
and you know that we're available.
00:05:09
Josh
um Yeah.
00:05:12
Josh
but yeah So probably in the ninetyties really.
00:05:16
Josh
essentially, kind of...
00:05:17
Josh
start Martin started the the business... Wow.
The Need for Hard Cases
00:05:31
Scott Hill
it.
00:05:33
Scott Hill
when was the moment that you thought you know this is a necessary to change this to protect our bikes because not really a lot of people spend an awful lot of money on these bikes but then some of them some people don't spend the right sort of money to protect that valuable asset as such you know and i and i look at what bikes i've got and i look at what bikes other people have and some of these bikes are ten thousand pounds in excess of that but then that don't actually
00:05:54
Scott Hill
protect him very well. So I'm guessing there was a point in in in the idea or, you know, the the production of Shopbox where you thought this is a necessary change that needs to happen.
00:06:05
Scott Hill
I just want to know a bit more about that.
00:06:06
Josh
Well,
00:06:09
Josh
and mean when we started Shockbox, there were one or two solutions out there, mainly soft bags. okay And um'm I'm not going to pick on any brand in particular, but there are well-known brands out there with ah with with soft bags.
00:06:25
Josh
And I realized quite early that those bags are not up to the job. okay And we we looked at everything that was available kind of out there in the market. And no bike case is perfect. We know that.
00:06:42
Josh
Okay. Because you try to you you try to to cover as many bases as possible, but you can't cover everything. So you can't get every size. And, you know, there's not one size that fits all. But what we you can try to do is aim for some form of protection. And think what we realized is that many of the cases or the offerings were just,
00:07:06
Josh
boxes that coincidentally you could fit a bike in and weren't really designed around a bike. And, you know, you know, Josh and I were talking about this, this early, you know, the kind of, you know, we're probably going to come on to soft case versus odd case at some point later, but you know I'll touch on that now.
00:07:12
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:07:24
Josh
And we, we, we know that the the, the soft bag, isn't the way to go. So we focused on the hard case. You know, we thought it gave the maximum amount of protection to bikes. And as you say, some bikes are 10, 12, you know, 15,000 pounds even, you know, and why would you cut corners and basically wrap it in a sleeping bag and hand it over to a baggage handler?
00:07:52
Josh
You know? Yeah.
00:07:52
Scott Hill
Yeah, we've seen how some of them airlines handle baggage as well, and you see it pop up in the media every now and then.
00:07:58
Scott Hill
So, yeah. I guess...
00:07:58
Josh
I mean, that there is really there is the element of it, the way that they're handled, but
00:08:03
Josh
kind of it's a calculated risk on the riders your off, isn't it? I mean, you know, while they have a a responsibility to look after your kit when you hand it over, you know, kind of, you're kind of doing it on a wing and a prayer because things happen. And if you were able to take your bike into the, onto the plane and put it,
00:08:29
Josh
and stow it above your head, and you're in full control of it all the time, the outcome is on you. So what you have to do is try to eliminate and then you know, you can find lots of,
00:08:37
Scott Hill
Yeah. yep
00:08:41
Josh
um lots of connections to the way that you train in this, you eliminate as many variables as possible to give you the best possible outcome.
00:08:54
Josh
on race day. And it's the same when traveling with a bike. You eliminate all of those variables. If you put it in a soft bag, and for example, we know that 80% of claims for damaging transit are with a soft bag.
00:09:09
Josh
So why would you put yourself in that position?
00:09:10
Scott Hill
Really?
00:09:11
Josh
If you've got a 10,000 pound bike, eliminate the risk and put it in a hard case.
00:09:14
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:09:17
Scott Hill
Yeah. and you And you always hear the stories and it where you know you see stuff pop up on social media when people travel abroad for whatever race they're doing, whether it's triathlon or cycling or whatever, where they've they've arrived with a bike that's been damaged.
00:09:28
Scott Hill
And you know and and I've had well i've i friends of mine that have arrived and the bike hasn't even arrived and they don't even know where it is.
00:09:34
Josh
Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:35
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah, but I guess that that other hurdle of that with, you know, you're talking about
Design and Development of Shotbox
00:09:41
Scott Hill
these boxes and stuff, I guess you've got restrictions with airlines as well. So yes, we can't put them in the cabin with us, but they go underneath, but they've also got to go through this security procedure as well.
00:09:50
Scott Hill
So you've got limitations there. You know, and I can give you experiences on what I've had with with different airports.
00:09:51
Josh
Yeah.
00:09:55
Scott Hill
But I guess you've got to counter that as well when you're in this production phase.
00:10:01
Scott Hill
Yeah. I've had it with, can't remember what airport, I think I told you, I've had one airport where they wouldn't put it, they physically wouldn't put it through the x-ray scanner for the oversized bagging. I had to go through customs and open it up myself and let them check it.
00:10:14
Scott Hill
But it would have fitted because in every other airport I've been, it's gone through fine.
00:10:14
Josh
Really?
00:10:18
Scott Hill
um And, you know, the one,
00:10:19
Josh
it seems It seems like different airports have different policies, though, don't they? Kind of.
00:10:23
Scott Hill
Yeah, it does it does. They are different. And and I guess it if some of it might ball back to the security side of stuff that these airports have. And the bike box is behind me. you know um Over this shoulder here, we've got the classic one that you do in this one. even We've got the new one, the pro. I've used both of these in airlines and they both managed to get through all security check-ins through the x-ray scanner with no problem.
00:10:45
Josh
Yeah.
00:10:45
Scott Hill
um albeit you know this one here is is easier to pack in obviously i've ventured that way because it's i have to break my bike box i have to break my bike down less to get it into the case which is fantastic because it means it's less fat for me at either end as well but i know in either one they're fully protected which is great yeah
00:10:56
Josh
Yeah,
00:11:01
Josh
yeah. yeah I mean, that's kind of really what the thinking behind that product was, really, that kind of, you know, but we'll we'll come on to that later, you know.
00:11:07
Scott Hill
yeah
00:11:12
Scott Hill
Yeah. So do you do you think it's quite stressful experience traveling with with bikes?
00:11:14
Josh
We'll come up to that.
00:11:17
Josh
one you think I think there's a... problem As i say, I've got a good... I personally, when I first travelled with my bike, thought the experience was um extremely stressful and i I hated every moment of it. It's...
00:11:34
Josh
was it 20, 2012, 2013? twenty twelve twenty thirteen i think we went to Italy and I used a soft bag at the time. It sounds like all we're doing is hating on soft bags, but, um, but I used a soft bag at the time and the whole journey was The pack and the bike was the only easy part of using it. You lived in London, didn't you? So you had to cross London with it on a tube and that. I lived in London. I had to get bus, a boss tram, a train, and then on the plane. There's a film about that, isn't there? Yeah. And it was it was just a nightmare to having to figure out a way to lift it up, to put it on the bus, and then get it on the tube. it was just awkward and difficult and really put me off traveling with a bike and I think that just made it very stressful and but I think part of to go back to your previous question is when you realized a shop box became a necessity was think not that particular scenario then i think we've begun to travel quite a lot with ah a cycling group that we were part of in the late noughties early 2010s to Italy a lot and most people travel rented a bike when we got there yeah because travel traveling just with you by it was just
00:12:57
Josh
wasn't too difficult for everybody i mean we're quite experienced cyclists it was too difficult really for people to not comprehend but you know we we even sent somebody with a van yeah yeah with everybody's bikes when they drove that time didn't you know rather and and one person i think took their box by a specialized tarmac in a uh in a cardboard box yeah in a cardboard box And I think that's probably when we realized that something better needed to be to be done, a better solution or an easier solution. Of course, in those days as well, like say, they they were just like large suitcases.
00:13:33
Josh
I remember Wiggle Do them on, dear a DHB branded one. And it was just like a really big 1970s suitcase. And you had to strip the bike back so much to get it in, and then you'd have to shoe on it in. I mean, I don't know how we did it. Right.
00:13:50
Josh
but you so But I think that's when we realised we needed to do something.
00:13:50
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:13:54
Josh
i certainly yeah You certainly realised that. and then um But it is a stressful it can be a stressful experience if you don't... and ah But that was down to the equipment that I was using at the time. It wasn't adequate for the job. And I think if you use equipment that's...
00:14:12
Josh
good, then it becomes a far less stressful experience. i think the same with anything. if you've got tools that aren't good enough for the job, it's difficult and it's going to be stressful. More a challenge. More of a challenge. Whereas if you've got the right tool to do the job. As I remember with those soft bags as well, that kind of thing with the framing, yeah I don't want to pick on any brands or shoot maybe you shouldn't name any of the brands, but the same as the Chican one with the frame in the bottom.
00:14:38
Josh
ah They call it the Aero Comfort or something like that. but It was a very similar bag to that and they don't stay up right. When you pull it along, it's top heavy because it's the bars at the top.
00:14:46
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:14:52
Josh
As you pull it along, it just falls over. In fact, I've seen them marketing videos of that particular brand where it just keeps falling over. It doesn't stay up right.
00:15:04
Josh
And then just going back to that baggage handler thing that you mentioned earlier, the the we We believe that baggage handlers want to handle your your luggage correctly. They don't set out in a bad mood because they've had an argument with the wife the night before and decide they're going to throw your luggage around. you know i think...
00:15:26
Josh
and We were privileged enough when we were doing going through the design process for Shockbox was that somebody think we rode with worked at EMA, East Midlands Airport, and they hooked us up with some people in the baggage handling department, and we did a bit of a chat with them about it.
00:15:39
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:45
Josh
And they were they're just normal people. They're not a breed on their own. And the outcome of that was if something's difficult to shift, you're going to bloody throw it.
00:15:57
Josh
If you make it easy for them, so it's got four casters that glide and it multi-rotates and it's got handles to lift it, it's more energy for them to throw it than it is to roll it.
00:15:57
Scott Hill
yeah
00:16:12
Scott Hill
Yeah, is it's a really positive thing, actually, with the shop box. Boxes, how easy they do move. And, you know, I travel with friends quite a lot. You know, I'm out Lansry right now. and out of six of us, three of us have come with shop boxes.
00:16:23
Scott Hill
And the other brands that are here, just the way they move and stuff, just generally, you know, around the airport and stuff is so different. And I've had friends of mine have commented on this as we've gone. So, We've seen a massive evolution of you know way back when, you know decades ago, to what we've got now.
00:16:38
Scott Hill
but have you seen Have you seen the evolution within your own brand as such?
00:16:38
Josh
Yeah.
00:16:42
Scott Hill
What what what obstacles have you had? what have you had to do to evolve from from day dot to where we are now?
00:16:49
Josh
Well, to to be fair, i mean, we we we were quite lucky. We're lucky. You make your look, don't you? But we set out with a program of future-proofing the cases that we built. So the Classic has been around for lots of years now, but it's still relevant.
00:17:08
Josh
In that it was it was designed around something that we saw coming, which was rotor brakes and through axle. So it's not limited in terms of tire dimensions because there are no well wi wheel recesses. Like with many cases, they have a recess molded into them, which limits the size of the tire.
00:17:31
Josh
Also, they require on a require a ah QR release to go through the frame to hold the wheel in place, and there's none of that in our boxes. we didn't you know we just didn't want to put any limitations in there.
00:17:41
Scott Hill
yeah.
00:17:44
Josh
So really, we set out with a program of future-proofing it in a way that the case could always be relevant, And we're rather than thinking about the bike you might buy today, what about the bike you might have tomorrow?
00:18:01
Josh
So we haven't really had any problems with that. imagine other brands built cases around aluminium bikes and as as carbon was a pretty new thing back then.
00:18:15
Josh
And they've never really moved on, have they? There has been no evolution. You know, we look at for example, how bike tech's moved on in the last two or three years.
00:18:28
Josh
Think about how it's moved on in the last 10 or 12 years, you know, where carbon carbon bikes just weren't a commonplace. you might see ah carbon forks You might see carbon see okay?
00:18:40
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:43
Josh
Or seat stays, sorry. But that was probably it host and And a seat post and maybe bars, but very rarely even a stem now to be full carbon. um So
00:18:57
Josh
our cases were designed because we saw this coming and we designed around that. And so there's not really any there's never really been here and and any obstacles to evolution. Well, I suppose there has been one big obstacle is that the integrated handlebars... Oh, right. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No one well no really saw that one coming, did they? No, I don't think anybody saw that coming.
00:19:23
Josh
And I suppose that's been the biggest evolution for us, is that we quickly realized that people weren't going to be able to pack it in the existing case, the classic and the premium.
00:19:33
Scott Hill
you know that crossed my mind because obviously I mentioned I've already had both and I use the Shotbox Pro now my my my new bike the latest one I've got which is a specialised SL8 and it's integrated handlebars but that didn't actually cross my mind because I use the Shotbox Pro now it just fits straight in you know all I have to take it off is the wheels and the wheel bags the rest of the bike is in pedals still attached it's in there and the box is closed so yeah didn't I didn't realise that myself um
00:19:34
Josh
um
00:19:51
Josh
threaten Yeah, yeah.
00:20:02
Josh
yeah I mean, as you say, nobody nobody really saw it coming. But we we kind of identified that quite early. And, you know, we saw the emergence, for example, of gravel.
00:20:13
Josh
We saw the levels of integration, but originally the pro when we started the design was the brief was to be able to pack a TT bike without removing the base bars.
00:20:25
Josh
That's what the original brief was.
00:20:26
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:20:28
Josh
And then as tech evolved, we broadened the scope of it to cover road bikes as well. But originally that case was designed for triathlon. Yeah.
00:20:39
Josh
That was the original brief.
00:20:40
Scott Hill
well
00:20:41
Josh
Yes. So we would we would have had the classic and the premium range for road rights and cyclists.
00:20:42
Scott Hill
like
00:20:49
Josh
But that what we know now as the Pro, it's code name actually when we were designing was Tri-X, wasn't it? The Tri-X, because we didn't know what to call it. ah But it was originally designed around TT.
00:21:03
Josh
That's what it was for.
00:21:05
Scott Hill
Yeah. i think a lot lot of people don't actually realize when their bikes go through airlines and and i've again witnesses first hand especially traveling into the states and stuff is even though your bikes have have left your hands they've gone into you know through the x-ray machine and the next time you see them as it the other the other the other end of the airline you know when you when you're in the airport collected it But your bikes can your bikes can still be inspected by customs stuff during that journey.
00:21:27
Scott Hill
And I've I've had it traveling to America where my bike's been opened up because they've checked whatever's inside it.
00:21:27
Josh
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:32
Scott Hill
But they've they've left me and left me a note in there to say that it's been checked. And that was new to me at the time. But I still believe most people out there don't realize that your bike can still be inspected at any point during its journey.
00:21:44
Josh
like i think I think as well, bikes are more likely to be inspected than a normal suitcase because they're so big and um often people put loads of different things in there as well.
00:21:54
Josh
They see there's more than just a bike in there when it's scanned, don't they? Nutrition, they put all sorts of stuff in there. So they they do always... I think to America, it's a vast majority of the time, i think I spoke to a couple of people who say their bike always gets checked when they fly into in America.
00:22:07
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:10
Josh
it's TSA won't do... I mean, you... I mean, I suppose being from the UK, we would imagine, because we have these levels of privacy, we would imagine that they can't open your property without you being there.
00:22:21
Josh
But of course, in the USA, TSA have the authority to do that, and they do, and they will. And they'll close the case and put it back together.
00:22:26
Scott Hill
yeah yeah
00:22:29
Josh
And we knew that was coming, and, you know... that this This is the reason and then why this case is so well thought out, or our cases.
00:22:40
Josh
So it comes equipped with, it sounds like a sales pitch, it comes with TSA approved latches. Okay, which which what it means in basic terms is they have a magic key, okay, which allows them to open it and close it again without knowing the combination.
00:22:47
Scott Hill
Yep.
00:22:58
Josh
you know I mean, probably anybody could get hold of one of those keys, but the reality is the TSA can close it again, ah check it, open it, check it, and close it, and you wouldn't even know they'd been in there.
00:23:09
Josh
okay Another thing that we noticed is there there's another big bike box brand out there that that requires what we call an anti-crush pole. that you have to insert into it.
00:23:21
Josh
Okay, they call it the pole dance, trying to get it in and get your hand out and close it. So one of the decisions that we made quite early was to integrate that into the case, where we had two sides that came together.
00:23:26
Scott Hill
Yeah. yeah
00:23:35
Josh
It just never needs to be removed, obviously. You can never lose it or forget it. And if the TSA go inside your case, and i am aware of instances where this has happened, they just don't put it back.
00:23:49
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:23:50
Josh
Okay.
00:23:50
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:23:50
Scott Hill
they don't know
00:23:50
Josh
Now, it's possible that you may not need that anti-crush pole.
00:23:55
Josh
You know, you may or you may not, but it's there for a reason, isn't it?
00:24:00
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:24:00
Josh
You know, and I mean, that's something that, yeah you know, kind of during during the design process, Josh actually pointed out about the loading of, I mean, maybe you just want to cover that.
00:24:12
Josh
Oh, they're loading. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people, I suppose, when when luggage gets put into an aeroplane, they maximize the space that they they have to maximize the space of of the cargo hold itself.
00:24:25
Josh
And so they they they ram it for and everything's stacked to the roof on top of each other. And because bike cases are big and heavy, they always go at the bottom.
00:24:36
Josh
ah So what ends up happening is you get 10, maybe 15 or 20 suitcases, all that can go up to 30 kilos of storage. So you've potentially got 300, 400 kilos worth of weight sat on top of your bike case. Bike case. Compressing it. Compressing it you know When you think about it, that is crazy. There's a lot load there.
00:24:56
Scott Hill
It is, it's a scary thought, isn't it?
00:24:56
Josh
a
00:24:57
Scott Hill
You know, your your pride and joy, where you spent thousands for, that is just at the bottom of a pile.
00:25:02
Josh
Yeah, essentially. And i think that's why it's so important that we find it so important to go for a hard case.
Advice for First-Time Bike Travelers
00:25:07
Josh
we I remember you pointing this out at the time. You said it's a little bit like having a soft bag.
00:25:12
Josh
I don't want to keep going back onto soft bags. I do we want to move on. A little bit like, if you can imagine, right, throwing a duvet cover over your bike in your lounge, then you and your mates all standing on it.
00:25:24
Josh
You wouldn't do it, would you?
00:25:26
Scott Hill
yeah good so if there was anyone out here well listening just now to this this podcast then what sort of advice would you give them if they were first time flying with a bike yeah
00:25:27
Josh
You know, so...
00:25:37
Josh
First time, buy hard case. and mean I'm not saying it has to be a shock box. I'm just just a hard case.
00:25:44
Scott Hill
ye yeah yeah
00:25:44
Josh
Use a hard case. Okay. And that's the advice that I would, if you're going to do it, do it and and but trust the process. And ah the the first time is always the hardest time you do anything. So there's a level of anxiety of the unknown.
00:26:02
Josh
and And I think probably particularly with triathletes, you need to know what's going to happen, when it's going to happen.
00:26:02
Scott Hill
Yep.
00:26:08
Josh
You know, you can't control the environment like the weather. Okay. You can't do that. But again, removing as many of those variables as possible, what the anxiety comes from, the unknown.
00:26:19
Josh
so I'm going to get there. And then what will I do with my bike? And how will I get it to the event? And I mean, I think like that's why I imagine a lot of people do. And once they've done that once, can I get the stem back on? Can I...
00:26:30
Josh
what What if I lose my setup? which Which is really, again, why we went for the pro case, because you don't really have to mess with it.
00:26:33
Scott Hill
Yep. Yep.
00:26:37
Josh
you know You just put it in and go. I think my one piece of advice for people traveling with the bike for the first time would be to think about the whole journey as a whole.
00:26:41
Scott Hill
and the
00:26:47
Josh
um So not just people get a lot of when people research by boxes, they get hooked up on one detail. Will it fit? Will my bike fit? And the simple answers, most bike cases on the market, your bike will fit into it. You know, that they're not out there.
00:27:04
Josh
Bike cases aren't out there that are too small for for bikes. Otherwise, they just wouldn't exist anymore.
00:27:07
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:27:09
Josh
So ah rather than thinking what's it going to be like to to move around the airport or pick it up or get it in the back of the car or how easy is it going to put my bike back together when I'm there? um You know, then kind of things are the things that are important. and which make the that's That's what makes the journey difficult or hard. Not when you're in ah the the what affects it.
00:27:34
Josh
affects your journey when you're not in the comfort of your own home. When you're packing it, you're at home, you've got all your tools around you you, you're not stressed out. But when you're out there in the public, that's when things start to become more stressful when things don't quite go right, or you're not expecting it.
00:27:48
Josh
So think about the whole journey as a whole.
00:27:49
Scott Hill
wait We went out to did our Ironman Barstona last year and um went out there with a friend and We had two different bike boxes, both of them hard case. When we actually flew out, then we got a train to our destination. Then we had to have a bit of a walk through the town to get to our accommodation.
00:28:08
Scott Hill
Because it was quite late at night, there was no taxis around. it was only small town, really. um And just the simplicity of walking along the road or along the pavement with how the wheels move on the shot box was... was drastically different compared to my friend's bike box.
00:28:24
Josh
I
00:28:25
Scott Hill
um And yeah for me, it was a good thing for him. It was was not so good. But you you touched on.
00:28:31
Josh
mean, enough that's... was going to say that's maybe an extreme example, but again, the manoeuvrability is a big important part of it. As Josh just you said, it's the whole journey.
00:28:41
Scott Hill
Go on.
00:28:42
Josh
And it's not just...
00:28:42
Scott Hill
It ties back into that.
00:28:43
Josh
It's not the journey, it's the destination.
00:28:45
Scott Hill
Yeah, and i kind of that is that's what I mean. It tied back into what Josh was saying. Don't just think about the airline with your your bike going on a plane. It's the the before and after. You transit in the car if you've got to move on foot.
00:28:53
Josh
Yeah. Yeah, because you've got to use it as well.
00:28:57
Scott Hill
Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. You've touched on the anti-crush system. I'd like to hear bit more about that, what you've built into Shopbox.
00:29:05
Josh
you to go? ah Well, um yeah as I was talking about the weight and so that's the sense that's really what it is there for. It's it's um when it's packed in an air in ah in a cargo hold, it's it's to stop your bike, it's to stop the case being compressed. and There's a little bit of flexibility in in the case, in in the material. um you know It can't be fully brittle and solid because if it if it got an impact, it would just break. So there has to be some give in there. So the anti-crush pole basically stops the middle from being compressed in and then ultimately crushing your bike when it when it starts. its in If you think of an egg box...
00:29:48
Josh
And how it kind of comes together to protect, that's where the thinking came from, an egg box really, and how it protects the egg inside to some degree.
00:29:53
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:56
Josh
Now, and you know, if you took that to its extreme and let's just say the baggage handler put your bike case on the runway and the pilot ah decided he needed to reverse the plane and it rolled over it, it's not going to survive.
00:30:10
Josh
You know, the the bike case and the bike would, it would be gone. You know, that would be it. But under normal use and um under normal load and handling, that anti-crush system is designed to do that.
00:30:23
Josh
And when it presses together, the idea is that it spreads the load out back into the case rather than kind of absorbing it directly.
00:30:31
Scott Hill
yeah. Yep.
00:30:34
Josh
And so ah protecting everything within the cavity. which is you your frame set and your wheels. And again, the reason that it is integrated rather than removable is because make it simple, stupid, that phrase, you know that.
00:30:53
Josh
And the easier that you make it for somebody, the easier it is. And if you can forget something or put it down and I do things all the time. I put something down and then, I didn't pick it back up.
00:31:07
Josh
So everything about those cases, anti-crush system included, okay, is made to make it simple. If you can't remove it, you can't lose it.
00:31:18
Josh
It's there. It removes a future decision.
00:31:20
Scott Hill
do you out look one yeah Do you have limitations with airlines? do um I'm guessing, well, in fact they do. So we have we have limitations with restricted sizing and stuff like that. So how how does that work in the process of of making these bike boxes? Because obviously if you go to an airline, we're now told obviously how much they charge to transit your bike, what your maximum weight limit is to transit a bike, what the sizing is by measurements and stuff like that. So I guess if you've got to factor that in. How do you do that? trying to keep
00:31:51
Josh
Well, think I think sometimes with some of the information they put on there, you do have to take with a bit of a pinch of salt because because um some of the airlines haven't updated their but dimensions.
00:31:51
Scott Hill
I guess you're trying to keep the size as you can.
00:32:06
Josh
for it I can't remember the airline off the top of my head. There's one in particular. I can't remember it is, but it says a metre by metre. and there There isn't a bike case out there that fits into that.
00:32:13
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:32:15
Josh
but when we But you do have to consider weight. I mean, think we we call it ah like a triangle, don't we Yeah. um You know, you have to kind of find the sweet spot between it being light the size to make it as easy as possible to pack it, and then... Level of protection. And the level of protection that it gives. And you kind of have to find the sweet spot, because you can't you can't be... you can't have all three. You can't be big enough to to pack a bike too big, because it has slightly say it has to fit within them dimensions. It can't be too heavy. It has to be light enough to be able to...
00:32:50
Josh
to um to to put your bike in and still fit within the weight limits, that you know, some of the airlines impose. And then, but it also has to protect the cases with the bike inside as well. So, um, I think we, we just find ourselves just on the very top limit of the the size. Um, there's there's, there's a balancing act there as well, isn't there, uh, Scott, because, you know kind of, you,
00:33:18
Josh
you You may be a kilo or two heavier than some of the competition, but your level of protection is is exceeds everything else out there.
00:33:28
Josh
you know I can genuinely say, to my knowledge, we have never had reported a bike broken in transit.
00:33:29
Scott Hill
Yeah. Right. Yeah. I guess.
00:33:37
Josh
And the only time anyone's ever mentioned any damage to me was because he put a track pump in a bike case with a aluminium foot on it, on his top tube.
00:33:50
Josh
And it it marked it. And you know, that was going to happen, wasn't it? If it was going to happen. But aside from that,
00:33:55
Scott Hill
guess I guess that goes back to that packing side of stuff. in in In principle, when you book these, whatever bike transport case you've got, when you're booking these onto the airlines, that airline, you're paying for your bike transit only, not all this other stuff people put inside that box.
00:34:14
Josh
Yeah, that's it. yeah
00:34:15
Scott Hill
so So when people are putting track pumps in their clothing, nutrition, everything else, they're actually going outside the guidelines of that airline's policy.
00:34:21
Josh
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:23
Scott Hill
So in theory, that's, yeah.
00:34:23
Josh
I mean, aluy I'm glad you've mentioned that because kind of people, you know, you have this impulse and I do it myself. You know, you've got to get the wife's ear dryer in there because her hand luggages a little bit over, you know, ah of cabin luggages a little bit over and
00:34:39
Scott Hill
um my
00:34:40
Josh
you know, the kids' bucket and spade and everything else go in there.
00:34:41
Scott Hill
but I i put why
00:34:44
Josh
and
00:34:46
Scott Hill
i mean, everyone does it.
00:34:46
Josh
number one,
00:34:47
Scott Hill
And ah and I'd be lying if I said I did. And i put my wetsuit in there. But it's nice and soft, and you know and it's it's effectively... In some way, you could say it's it's a soft-shell thing and but and and probably a couple of other things.
00:34:58
Scott Hill
But I think track pumps, when we go to events now, especially Ironmans and stuff like that, they've got track pumps in transitions. They always say it when you go to the the race briefings, don't bring your tracks pump.
00:35:09
Scott Hill
There's enough in transition will do it. But everyone still does.
00:35:11
Josh
Yeah.
00:35:12
Scott Hill
They always carry these track pumps around because they've got to use their own track pump.
00:35:12
Josh
Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:16
Scott Hill
And to be honest with you, when I'm there and I see people using track pumps, I don't take one because I think it's pointless because they've got them there, but I'll be like, oh, can I borrow your track pump?
00:35:22
Josh
Yes. Yeah.
00:35:25
Scott Hill
And I'll use theirs.
00:35:25
Josh
yeah
00:35:27
Scott Hill
But we've now got these little, the little air, when you charge them up and it's a little air pump, the small things.
00:35:32
Josh
yes yeah
00:35:34
Scott Hill
I mean, I've got one here, fantastic bit of kit. And that just now goes in my little hand log, is in my rucksack with me and you hardly notice it.
00:35:41
Josh
It's easy, isn't it?
00:35:41
Scott Hill
Saving weight everywhere.
00:35:42
Josh
It's definitely better than then gas canisters, that's for sure.
00:35:43
Scott Hill
Yeah, really, really good. But yeah,
00:35:47
Josh
I mean, the thing that you're just saying, that people just don't really take any notice.
00:35:48
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:35:50
Josh
A big example of that is, just going back to aeroplanes, the plane lands and they say, don't stand up or take your seatbelt off until the plane comes to a complete standstill.
00:36:01
Josh
And then you sit in there and then everybody's up and... You know, people generally genuinely don't generally don't listen.
00:36:06
Scott Hill
yeah yeah
00:36:09
Josh
But I think the takeaway from that is that, as we've said earlier, you know, we're prepared as people that ride bikes, cyclists, triathletes, to spend
00:36:23
Josh
embarrassing amounts of money on a bike, okay? And we buy a bike case for it, and then we quibble about paying an extra 30 quid
00:36:31
Scott Hill
yeah. Yeah.
00:36:34
Josh
And we want to try to to to to book it on a plane. So we try to get the case within the... um on longwall particularly, within the agreed 23 kilo limit and put it in as your allowance.
00:36:49
Josh
So they pack everything in there. And so what they'll tend to do is then compromise and go for a soft case or ah complain that your case is a little bit heavier.
00:37:00
Josh
You can't have that level of protection and have a case that's under 10 kilos. you The two things just don't go hand in hand. And that's probably the only limitation that we get, isn't it? From, you know, the obstacle.
00:37:16
Josh
Yeah. Objection from people. It's weight. That's the biggest one. But ultimately, like like that there's that like I said, there's that triangle where because it gives you a certain level of protection and you need to be able to fit um bikes in without taking the handlebars off, so it's going to be bigger, it ultimately has to be heavier, otherwise it's not going to protect the bike.
00:37:38
Scott Hill
but generally if they're not if they're not packing it with extra stuff the weight limit is still within the weight
00:37:42
Josh
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah he yeah yeah. That's what it was designed to do, yeah.
00:37:46
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah. And and you're right. and You know, what you say is there is okay. Let's, that means I'm going to have to buy extra luggage, but if your bike's fully protect and that's what you want it to be fully protected, then you'll buy extra luggage to take your clothing, take things like your track pumping that and stuff like that.
00:37:58
Josh
mean...
00:38:01
Josh
Yeah.
00:38:02
Scott Hill
Uh, yeah.
00:38:02
Josh
I mean, I think that the vast majority of people travel...
00:38:03
Scott Hill
So. Yeah.
00:38:08
Josh
um short flights, and they'll tend to be budget airlines, where you might pay 30 quid for your flight, but you've got to pay 30 quid to take the bike each way.
00:38:19
Josh
And you'll tend to get 30 32 kilos as a limit on your on your baggage with those airlines.
00:38:19
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:27
Josh
And, ah you know, if you wanted to put your wetsuit in, you could you could argue that that's part of kit. So you could do that.
00:38:34
Scott Hill
Yeah, if I was giving anyone any advice with traveling, because I've had this mistake happen is if you are booking budget flights early, make sure you book your bike transport at the same time, because I've seen it happen in the past where people have booked their flights early because they're cheaper because it's in the Black Friday sale or January sale, whatever it is.
00:38:46
Josh
Yeah.
00:38:55
Scott Hill
and then if it will, I'll add my luggage, I'll add my bike later on, and they get to that near point of travel, and they go on there to put their bike on, and it's fully loaded, it's maxed out, because you've got X amount of athletes leaving that same country.
00:39:05
Josh
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good the same event. I'll tell you what, you've just given me a heart attack because I've just done that exact thing.
00:39:09
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:39:10
Josh
i bought I'm going to a training camp at the end of February and I bought my flights months ago. i thought I'll book the bike on ah in a couple of weeks or something.
00:39:16
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:39:19
Josh
I've just not got around to it. So I'm probably going to go on and do that straight after this.
00:39:23
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:39:25
Scott Hill
It happens. It happens. um I've done it.
00:39:25
Josh
Fingers crossed.
00:39:27
Josh
Well, that would be so funny if that happened to you, wouldn't it? Don't, don't.
00:39:30
Scott Hill
that Training camps, is you know you get away with it, but generally racing and stuff because UK athletes
00:39:37
Josh
we've got a lot of people going in.
00:39:39
Scott Hill
so much abroad, especially within Europe and stuff like that. Then yeah, the the airline have got a maximum capacity. Um, and I've even even seen that we've loaded, you know, you we've had, um, again, friends of mine that we've got the destination and their bike hasn't turned up.
00:39:44
Josh
of course.
00:39:52
Scott Hill
Um, and it transpired that airline was full is coming on the next flight. Um, and sometimes people leave a weight or they'll go to the destination hotel and and the airline does deliver it, but that's another stress that you don't need.
00:39:57
Josh
Yeah.
00:40:05
Josh
yeah no Yeah, exactly.
00:40:06
Scott Hill
Uh,
00:40:06
Josh
why yeah ah it It's never happened to me, but I went to Ibiza back in October on a trip and there was probably 500 people on this this weekend, on this this festival, bike festival.
00:40:21
Josh
and But at the airport on that day, there was probably 300 people, all the flights leaving to various de destinations, ah you know, within a couple of hours of each other.
00:40:33
Josh
And I do remember on on the little group that we had all of these people that were flying into Gatwick, there was about 40 of them. And they didn't get their bikes for two or three days afterwards, just because they couldn't couldn't get them on.
00:40:46
Scott Hill
Wow.
00:40:48
Josh
yeah I mean, they booked them, but they were...
00:40:50
Scott Hill
but I mean, I've had it, I've had it again, you know, you hear stories and people put tags and whatever in their bike now.
00:40:59
Scott Hill
Um, uh, and someone I know that races on all the Ironmans and stuff like that, he didn't get his bike back and he could even, know well, I know where it is cause it's showing on my app and he ended up traveling out to another European country to collect his bike.
00:41:10
Scott Hill
And he's like, you know, follow on this track.
00:41:11
Josh
Oh, wow.
00:41:11
Scott Hill
It was in there. But the stress that that must have put him under would have been phenomenal.
00:41:18
Josh
I can imagine.
00:41:18
Scott Hill
Because it doesn't...
00:41:19
Josh
He would have been training for that event for quite some time, I imagine.
00:41:21
Scott Hill
Yeah, it doesn't
00:41:25
Scott Hill
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's not just that. it's Most athletes, whatever their sport is... That's their personality, that's them, that's what they do. So when you haven't got it you know outside of events and stuff like that, it it adds more stress to your life because that could be your your release.
00:41:40
Scott Hill
It could be your escape from from anything you're dealing with in its parcel of life.
00:41:43
Josh
Yeah, yeah.
00:41:45
Scott Hill
And I guess if you haven't got that possession with you, it's it can be a bit demoralizing and a bit difficult for a lot of people.
00:41:51
Josh
You can't just go out for a bike ride because it's stuck in some airport on the other side of the Europe. Which may seem quite petty to some people, but ah actually, if it happened to you, it it would be the end of the world at that weekend,
Shotbox's Global Reach and Impact
00:42:03
Josh
wouldn't it? You know, destroyed.
00:42:05
Scott Hill
Yeah. We always know always see how these athletes um athletes don't cope very well with injuries, do they? And I guess you can put it into that as such in so in some ways.
00:42:12
Josh
Yeah.
00:42:15
Scott Hill
um So where is where is Shotbox at the moment in terms of that you know globally who's using the actual product itself? Is it is it traveling worldwide?
00:42:26
Josh
Oh, well. Well, we know that you're using it. we We have a ah massive global presence. okay The majority of shop boxers, particularly the pro, ahll go to the USA.
00:42:45
Josh
um we We just seem to have built up a fantastic level of loyalty there, um particularly for the gravel
00:42:45
Scott Hill
yeah.
00:42:56
Josh
um sector, road bikes as well.
00:42:59
Scott Hill
yep
00:43:00
Josh
um We we ah and and continue to grow there. ah Within Europe, um we we ah we work with a ah a retailer called Bike24.de.
00:43:16
Josh
and dot d e and um They do massive amounts of them. We've just done some sampling for Van Rysel.
00:43:24
Scott Hill
Yep.
00:43:28
Josh
We're going to be working with them. We work with Pinarello. We work with Factor, branding cases for them. And we're hoping to bring on Colmargo.
00:43:38
Josh
There are a couple of other things that we've spoken about privately that can't mention right now to do with Triathlon, okay ah big brands ah that we ah are looking to work with. um The deal's almost done, but we're not quite there. So it wouldn't be right to make any announcements about that. But the product is there, being used by a lot of people. Everybody's very happy with it.
00:44:03
Josh
And I'll never get sick of hearing that. the and And nice the product is. I was at event last night and a guy said to me at this event, it was a launch for a um a and ah ah cycling event in the Isle of Wight in June. and ah he he said to me, he I'd met this guy in Ibiza, and there was this car park in the hotel, and there must have been 150 bike cases in this car park waiting to be transported, and... um
00:44:37
Josh
you know there there was a ah good amount of shot box pros there but he said he hed he'd never seen it up close to some of the competitors and he he just didn't realize how nice it was and how well designed it was and you know it was there were great words to hear but he can't wait to buy one you know he's gonna be buying one for his next trip and uh
00:44:56
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:02
Josh
It never ceases to amaze me, some of the places where we get emails from. The amount of countries, Martin was saying, it's a truly it really truly is global. We do a lot to America, but we have customers in Singapore, Australia, Thailand, South Africa. Japan. Japan.
00:45:24
Josh
you know India. ah Dubai. Dubai. Quite a lot in Dubai. Saudi. I mean, kind of. It's crazy to think when we started that we'd be sending bike cases to Australia and Dubai. Quite weird feeling really that that would happen. And we never set out for it to be anything other than, the mission in my mind is not to be a million, it wasn't to be, oh, I can make a few quid from this or something like that.
00:45:52
Josh
You know, it's a business, course it is. Okay. But really... When I came into this industry, getting into the the cycling industry was quite a challenge in that almost everybody that worked in it ah was from a racing background.
00:46:04
Scott Hill
That's really Yeah.
00:46:09
Josh
And there was a bit of snobbery around that. And it was quite difficult. mean, you can sometimes feel a little bit like an imposter, like imposter syndrome being there.
00:46:19
Josh
It's quite difficult to...
00:46:20
Scott Hill
that's ready for
00:46:20
Josh
to to get into. And all I really wanted was to earn the respect of those people where they would say, that is a nice case. That is a lovely product. That's been well thought out.
00:46:33
Josh
You know, it's a good product. And that was really payoff for me. And, you know, maybe we'd make, we'd sell a few and make a little bit of money as well, but it just never ceases to amaze me.
00:46:37
Scott Hill
Yep.
00:46:43
Josh
But we get emails from, For example, ah we're just about to send one to ah Olympic medalist Danny Rowe.
00:46:55
Josh
And we get messages from all over the world, from ex-pros and stuff like that, that are really interested in the product. And it's quite encouraging that they kind of have noticed it and have heard of it.
00:47:11
Josh
We just wish more people knew about the product.
00:47:11
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:47:14
Scott Hill
yeah and And obviously your brand's been there for a substantial amount of time now.
Business Resilience and Future Plans
00:47:18
Scott Hill
We've had, we were still used to COVID area, but that's like six years ago now. do you think in this last five years, you've seen the comeback and, you know, we've seen the sport grow again, both for cyclists and triathletes?
00:47:23
Josh
Yeah.
00:47:28
Josh
Yeah, I mean, definitely. I mean, I think like on the build up to kind of up to 2019, 2020, we started to feel a difference in the momentum where people were starting to go into lots of events.
00:47:45
Josh
They were taking note of that. We knew they were taking notice of our product because we saw that
00:47:49
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:47:50
Josh
in the sales, okay, and mean and the amount of inquiries. Because not all inquiries net out to a sale. You know, sometimes people don't, they go for a competitor. And it's always nice to hear when they come back and say, i wish I'd brought that now because that's not quite what I thought it was going to be. And that's always nice to hear. But then, of course, when COVID came, and I a I hate that period, really, looking back at it.
00:48:14
Josh
It gave me a lot of time for reflection. But of course, with no overseas events and no travel, the business just really ground to a stop.
00:48:21
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:23
Josh
And, you know, we were quite lucky in a way that we managed to keep going and stay where we were. And it gave me some breathing space to really focus on the pro case.
00:48:35
Josh
Okay. It gave me that time because running a business can sometimes times be like spinning plates. If you remember that old thing they used to do, spinning plates. And ah you have this list of things that you want to do but you don't always have the time to implement them.
00:48:53
Josh
And so really when COVID came, it was a kick in the teeth, but it did give me the time to work on the pro case. Pardon?
00:49:01
Scott Hill
yeah So you took a positive.
00:49:03
Josh
but
00:49:04
Scott Hill
There was a positive that came out of it at least. Yeah.
00:49:06
Josh
Yeah, yeah, positive it came out. But it really meant that the business had to start again almost from scratch. And ah now it's kind of not just shock box, but travel generally um and events generally are or just on the verge of exploding again.
00:49:24
Josh
And...
00:49:24
Scott Hill
Yeah, you see in the tri-world, like the, just the booking and sell out of events at the minute is just like, it's great to see.
00:49:32
Josh
Yeah. And new events come in all the time, aren't there?
00:49:36
Scott Hill
Yeah, it's great to see, it's great to be part of, it's great to coach athletes and help them through them, you know, from personal perspective myself, but you have to do some serious planning now.
00:49:46
Scott Hill
And I guess that comes in with training camp for yourself.
00:49:50
Josh
Yeah.
00:49:51
Scott Hill
Josh and and stuff like that you know these things have to be planned so far in advance now and again it's it's difficult but it's important that people are looking that far ahead and planning and and planning these minute details not just you know the race entry but everything that comes with it the complexity of the travel the you know the airlines the the bike the equipment they might need and everything else as well and you know if they're looking for for working with coaches to get the best in all of this stuff because there's many people out there can offer so much advice and we see up so much advice all over social media at the minute.
00:50:23
Scott Hill
And some of it's relevant, but a lot of it is not relevant.
00:50:28
Josh
Yeah, I can definitely agree to that.
00:50:30
Scott Hill
yeah and that's And that's what's coming It's catching a lot of people out because there's many people out there with no experience whatsoever that are doing quick videos here and there because they're very good at it, talented in that aspect because a lot of the stuff that we see on social media, I can't do.
00:50:47
Scott Hill
I guess that's because I'm of a certain age and generations are coming through that can do it very quick at doing it.
00:50:47
Josh
Yeah.
00:50:53
Scott Hill
um But people ah people listening have got to be careful that they are following the right advice and not the wrong advice by someone who's just good at social
00:50:59
Josh
yeah Yeah, I think I can definitely agree. Couldn't agree more with that, to be honest. um You do have find a lot of cycling influencers find themselves in a position where people listen to them.
00:51:14
Scott Hill
Mm-hmm.
00:51:15
Josh
ah the The content that they make, the quality of it is absolutely great. but then sometimes you listen to the advice that they give and you can tell it's advice given by a newbie cyclist.
00:51:26
Josh
um And some so sometimes some of them are open about that, you know, that they're that they're new to it. But like you say, I think you do have to be um cautious about some of the advice. or But giving it gave advice should be about giving your opinion rather than and advice. Because when you give advice, it's a dangerous place to be. Because if you...
00:51:45
Josh
don't really know because you don't have the experience to know because you've not really done it. You just, you're paid to say it really in some way. Um, you shouldn't really be giving that advice and it's not authentic, is it?
00:52:00
Scott Hill
No, no, it's not. So with shop boxing, it can be, yeah, extremely.
00:52:02
Josh
I'm dangerous.
00:52:05
Josh
Yeah.
00:52:06
Scott Hill
Yeah, really, really dangerous. you know Well, we could I could go down a rabbit hole with that. But where where where do you see shop boxing in five years?
00:52:11
Josh
Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:14
Scott Hill
what is What is your vision? Where do you see you going in yourselves?
00:52:17
Josh
Well, we we at this stage, we've got no new products planned. okay We're intending to i mean roll out some new colours this year.
00:52:28
Josh
As we started, we did some samples. like you've you've got one You were lucky enough to get one of the red ones.
00:52:31
Scott Hill
Yep. Oh, we lost you.
00:52:32
Josh
We did just a few of those. We did a few green ones last year, um and we did some pink ones.
00:52:38
Scott Hill
Can you still hear me okay?
00:52:38
Josh
And ah we're we're just about to roll out a few different colors, try a few few different things.
00:52:41
Scott Hill
I think we've lost you there.
00:52:43
Josh
Originally, we just stuck with black. We're going to continue to develop the pro. um We're not sure how we can make it better. We can only make the manufacturing process better.
00:52:54
Josh
and so to make it more stable and to make sure product comes through faster.
00:52:55
Scott Hill
So it seems like we've got a technical issue there.
00:52:59
Scott Hill
We've lost connection.
00:52:59
Josh
We are looking to try to shift away from...
00:53:04
Josh
um he's dropped. Is it because I was boring?
00:53:07
Scott Hill
Are we back?
00:53:09
Josh
You are pretty boring, I've got to say. Yeah.
00:53:12
Scott Hill
Are we back? We're back.
00:53:13
Josh
Hello. Okay. Yeah,
00:53:14
Scott Hill
a bit but I think that was an issue on my side there. So, yeah, apologies. We're back.
00:53:18
Josh
okay yeah we were still here. here.
00:53:22
Scott Hill
Yeah, I wasn't sure.
00:53:22
Josh
who there
00:53:24
Scott Hill
No. Well, we'll come back anyway. But yeah, obviously you see you've got no no immediate development for the current box or anything planned for the future.
00:53:30
Josh
Well, it'll just be ongoing development. So, for example, you know, kind of like... um
00:53:37
Josh
ah experimenting with upgraded wheels, things like that, changing some colors, that that kind of thing, really. we're go to we We want to do some work with the internals, and the internals are very good on it, but could they be better?
00:53:52
Josh
you know
00:53:52
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:53:53
Josh
Could the wheel bags and the the frame wrap, could we tweak them slightly? but There are no immediate plans to change anything with designs or anything like that, and it's possible that we may look at other products.
00:54:11
Josh
So we kind of...
00:54:13
Scott Hill
You think with your working with with colors and for example, that you could um work with specific colors for different teams and i guess stuff that.
00:54:14
Josh
but
00:54:21
Scott Hill
i mean, you've talked about some of you doing custom for.
00:54:23
Josh
Yeah, but we can do that because we we can do... um As as you you may have seen, you know, there there are... ah Viesvello cases out there. There are Colmargo cases. There are Pinarello cases. There are Van Rysel cases.
00:54:38
Josh
ah We can brand for anybody that we you know that that wants it.
00:54:40
Scott Hill
Yep.
00:54:44
Josh
which we but We are working hard to try and bring that to the retail side of it as well, where We would like to be able to offer some level of customization for when people buy the case.
00:54:57
Josh
you know
00:54:58
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:54:59
Josh
they want their name on it? Do they want, i don't know, their nickname or if they've got a particular number that they like to race with or you know that kind of thing.
00:55:05
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:55:06
Josh
we're we're looking at We'd like to be able to offer that and that that is in the development. and We don't have an exact timeline when that might be ready, but that's something that we are looking at.
00:55:15
Scott Hill
You always see, you always see people traveling around where different locations, you're like, I'll go to a location, I'll buy a fridge magnet, but most people, they'll buy a sticker and they'll stick that on the box, whatever race they've been.
00:55:22
Josh
Yeah.
00:55:25
Josh
Yeah, yeah.
00:55:26
Scott Hill
um
00:55:27
Josh
Yeah, that's that's something. It's something that we can do. I know i know that ah some competitive cases, they come with stickers all over them.
00:55:35
Scott Hill
They do.
00:55:36
Josh
And to be fair, it was something that we steered away from doing in that the the graphics that used to be available never stay on the box because of the nature of the material that it's made It's very oily and they tend not to stay on.
00:55:36
Scott Hill
yeah
00:55:40
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:55:48
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:55:51
Scott Hill
Well, you thought about that with the airline tags as well on this, on the shop there as well, which some airlines are quite surprised about.
00:55:54
Josh
Yeah. Yes. I mean,
00:55:58
Scott Hill
I'm like, no, no put it through the slot.
00:56:01
Josh
yeah yeah, yeah, It's quite a good thing.
00:56:01
Scott Hill
Uh,
00:56:02
Josh
Well, the reason, the reasoning behind that was because if the TSA opened your case and the, uh, the, the sticker or the the label is around the handle, then to get into it, that's going to come off.
00:56:09
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:56:17
Scott Hill
nothing
00:56:18
Josh
And then what happens to the label?
00:56:22
Scott Hill
yeah no
00:56:22
Josh
But to just to get to to the Martin answer sort of what product-wise we're going to be looking at over the next five years, but as a brand shop box over the next five years, we want to make shop box the brand that's synonymous with traveling with bike. um When somebody says, oh, I'm going on holiday with my bike, we want the we want people to be saying...
00:56:45
Josh
you want to get a shot box pro get a shot box pro and i'd love to be able to go on a cycling training camp or a cycling holiday and 90 of the cases that are there are shot box pros yeah and that's what that's what i want not because because i genuinely believe it's the best product on the market and people okay it's just better for people to use it. And I think that's what I'd love to see in the next one. That's what we we want to see. I think i think at the moment, the the majority of people that are using it are kind of like like yourself, early adopters. You get it.
00:57:21
Josh
just It works for what you need to do. And it makes your journey... i mean, you've done it so many times anyway that you probably do it without thinking about it. okay But for somebody who hasn't travelled before...
00:57:31
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:57:35
Scott Hill
Yeah. Mine was unpacked here and everyone was.
00:57:36
Josh
they They, you know, it's second nature. Yeah.
00:57:40
Scott Hill
Yeah. No, I was just saying here when a we come here.
00:57:41
Josh
But for somebody who hasn't done it before, is it
00:57:45
Scott Hill
We've got a delay, I think.
00:57:46
Josh
there's a level of anxiety for them to travel and for them to just be able to be assured that they can just put the bike in, put the wheels back on at the other end and go. And in some cases, they may really need to remove a saddle or something.
00:58:00
Josh
But it's that simple. And within 10 minutes, you're on your way again. but That's got to be the way forwards. And this thing of having to strip the bike right down to be able to ride it is not a good thing.
00:58:08
Scott Hill
That was very much... It
00:58:14
Scott Hill
was very much here that I got mine out, packed unpacked it, put it together. i was like, that's it, done. I put the kettle on then whilst everyone else was still getting spanners out and Alan Cruz and everything else.
00:58:22
Josh
Yeah, yeah, yeah. i think
00:58:24
Scott Hill
But yeah. But I mean, I love mine recently.
00:58:26
Josh
I've heard that so many times.
00:58:28
Scott Hill
Yeah, but the visible, so we need to get the shock box visual more. So mine's obviously white on on the red case in there. That stands out. And even I've had people come through, go through the airport. So look, there's a shock box one.
00:58:39
Scott Hill
And, you know, it's been pointed out because that, that white writing stands out on my one. So that's really good to see.
00:58:44
Josh
do Do we say that then?
00:58:45
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah.
00:58:47
Josh
if i'm Okay.
00:58:49
Scott Hill
So.
00:58:49
Josh
I mean, people are starting to, mean, that's a nice thing for me to hear.
00:58:53
Scott Hill
Yep.
00:58:54
Josh
know, it's kind of,
00:58:55
Scott Hill
And um'm not I'm there, well, have go, have a push, that see how easy that is to get around.
00:58:59
Josh
okay Yeah. There's even videos of people um riding them down like ramps at airports and stuff like that. a video of you somewhere. Riding riding one.
00:59:09
Josh
on yeah Yeah. Well, I wouldn't advise you do it because you couldn't stop. At Stansted, I think. There's a big ramp that comes down at Stansted, isn't there? Yeah. Was it? just was it no No, tell you what, it was Bergamo.
00:59:16
Scott Hill
mate.
00:59:18
Josh
It was Bergamo in Italy.
00:59:20
Scott Hill
not recommend
00:59:20
Josh
There was a big ramp that comes from the car park down to the airport and it got on and fell off. They took up some... Nearly took that guy out. there Some young family out. a Family of four got taken out. Yeah.
00:59:29
Scott Hill
Safety disclaimer, though, but don't be doing that.
00:59:32
Josh
yes Yeah, I know. you have yeah you You shouldn't really do that. But it...
00:59:36
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:59:36
Josh
it's a It's, ah we we we want to see in the next five years that Shockbox is just a brand that everyone would consider, you know, and and, you know, kind of, we've tried to avoid screaming and shouting about the product and saying how great it is.
00:59:55
Josh
We kind of believe that it should be in the background, the silent partner, you know, for people that know, know, kind of,
01:00:03
Scott Hill
Yeah.
01:00:05
Josh
you know it You know it is, and that's what you would buy. It's the obvious choice.
01:00:09
Scott Hill
Yeah. So where obviously people listen the podcast, where can they, where can they find shot box? How can they follow you? Yeah.
01:00:16
Josh
Well, they can follow us on Instagram. You know, we're not we're not great at social media.
01:00:19
Scott Hill
Yeah.
01:00:20
Josh
We have some presence there. Just at Shopbox. At Shopbox, we are on social media and our website, really. That's it.
01:00:31
Josh
You know, we... um I was going to say, our website, shopbox.co.uk, also as well, shopbox.us for customers that we have in North America. and They can go directly to there. And then for the UK as well, there's Sigma Sports, which is available.
01:00:50
Josh
um And then, as obviously, Martin's already mentioned Bike24 in Germany. and but so but but But they serve the whole of Europe as well.
01:00:56
Scott Hill
Yeah.
01:00:59
Josh
so there's quite a few options. And we're looking to add different... retailers um around the world over the year as well. So and there's potentially a few other places that it will be. Larger retailers. mean, there are a lot, there are a lot of independent retailers that already supply it.
01:01:18
Josh
Now they can have it on display in their stores. um You know, but we need to be in touch with more
01:01:26
Josh
triathlon based businesses. Okay. And we, we, if If any of them are listening to to the podcast, we'd love to hear from you and see what your view is and and discuss Shopbox in some detail with them on the pro and how we might be able to set up a program with them.
01:01:45
Josh
It enables them to
01:01:48
Josh
supply the case to customers
01:01:50
Scott Hill
Yep.
01:01:50
Josh
but they you know that they don't have to be too concerned about space and so stock. and you know yeah Because we do also work with quite a lot of ah independent bike shops as well. there's a few around London, ah the the Midlands, up in Scotland. There's quite a few independent bike shops that also do stock it. So and it might be worth checking with your your local bike shop as well, because they they might also have it available.
01:02:17
Josh
It kind of works in a way where the... order it through the bike shop. They can see it and touch it and feel it in the bike shop. And then the bike shop order it and we send it directly to the customer next working day.
01:02:29
Josh
So they they don't have to get on the bus with it. You know, kind of but sometimes people want to be tactile with it before they buy.
01:02:33
Scott Hill
Yeah. not hot night
01:02:38
Scott Hill
Yeah, no, fantastic. And what would be your final message then to the, obviously all listeners from the UK TriChat community? Give them a final message.
01:02:47
Josh
Oh, do more of what you love. Yeah. That's it.
01:02:52
Scott Hill
Keep doing what you love.
01:02:52
Josh
Find something you love and do more of it. Yeah.
01:02:55
Scott Hill
No, totally agree. Couldn't agree more. We are here.
01:02:57
Josh
And always walk on the sunny side of the street.
01:03:00
Scott Hill
i thought Yeah. um Well, we're in air but we're only here for, as I say, a lifetime, not a long time, aren't we, in reality?
01:03:06
Josh
Yeah.
01:03:06
Scott Hill
And if you talk to the older generation, they'll always give that advice is enjoy your life. And I guess that's what's supposed
01:03:12
Josh
Well, you can get kind of really wrapped up in Korea you you know and Oh, as in a career. A career. I thought you talking about the country. Oh, right. No, no. you Well, we're a comedy double act here. Right.
01:03:29
Josh
You can get really tied up in in your career and and and life generally and not really find any time to do what you do love. and and And I think people that take part in a triathlon event do have found that escape where they can live their life.
01:03:48
Josh
ah Even if it's just for a few hours, they can do it and and feel human.
01:03:56
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yep.
01:03:56
Josh
And um if everybody if everybody did that, well, it's hard, as you say, and that's why everybody doesn't do it. um
01:04:07
Scott Hill
yep
01:04:07
Josh
So find what you love and do more of it.
01:04:10
Scott Hill
Fantastic. Well, from UK TriChat and myself, I'd like to thank you very much for you both coming on and talking today. I'm Josh and Martin from Shockbox. I hope the listeners have enjoyed the conversation.
01:04:22
Scott Hill
And this is about real conversation with real people and and getting exposure and learning and teaching people out there just about sport in general, not necessarily just triathlon in my background, but, you know, all the sports if we can.
01:04:34
Scott Hill
So, you know, thank you. Thank you to your listeners.
01:04:37
Josh
Well, really appreciate you inviting us on.
01:04:38
Scott Hill
And, uh,
01:04:40
Josh
Yeah, thanks for having us. it's ah It's new territory for us, this is. You know, something we've never done before, as you can tell by our inexperience in this. But, you know, ah we've enjoyed it. And, you know, kind of, if anyone's got any, it does raise any questions or anyone's got anything that we didn't cover, it wasn't intentional.
01:04:57
Josh
It's just that we were just chatting, weren't we? But if anyone has got any questions, you know, they could just email us.
01:05:00
Scott Hill
yeah
01:05:04
Josh
As you can tell, Martin isn't afraid of talking.
01:05:04
Scott Hill
Fantastic.
01:05:06
Josh
Support at shotbox.co.uk and we'll be quite happy to answer any questions that we might not have covered. Sales at shotbox.co.uk. Okay, sales at shotbox.co.uk. Sorry.
01:05:19
Josh
so
01:05:19
Scott Hill
why Thank you. And thank you everyone for listening and we look forward to the next podcast from you.
01:05:24
Josh
Cheers, Scott. Take care.
01:05:26
Scott Hill
Bye now.