Two Athletes Form Elliptical Bike Company

Five years ago Bryan Pate was an injured runner with a problem. He hated exercising in the gym. Some people might think his solution extreme: He contacted his friend and fellow Ironman Brent Teal with the idea of building an elliptical trainer he could ride outdoors. Teal thought the idea had legs, and le`ss than a year later, they were riding the first prototype. In February, they launched the world’s first elliptical bike. In this economy. Crazy? Perhaps. Then again, maybe only a couple of smart guys with the passion, drive and competitiveness of endurance athletes could actually make it happen. “The intent wasn’t to build a company,” said Pate, whose background is in strategic marketing and management consulting. “I wanted one and was shocked it didn’t exist. I figured there were others who would want it, injured runners like myself, or for cross-training.”

“Initially, we went around talking to people to see if they were interested in developing it,” said Teal. “We really didn’t want to take it to market ourselves.” The ElliptiGO 8S ($2,199) combines aspects of cycling and running with an elliptical trainer. It looks and performs like a bicycle, but has no seat. Instead of pedals, it uses a patented elliptical propulsion system, and can go anywhere a road bike can, even the Death Ride, a 129-mile road bike race through the California Sierras.

“It’s flat out a lot of fun, it’s really comfortable and people are shocked at how well it climbs,” said Pate, 37. The native San Diegan has a bachelor’s degree in earth systems from Stanford and a Columbia law degree. In 1997, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Prior to his Persian Gulf deployment, he ran the San Diego marathon, his first. But the impact of years of distance running ruined his knees and hips and by age 32, he could no longer run for fitness. Teal, 36, is originally from Eugene, Ore., and holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. He competes in ultra marathon trail races.

“A 100-mile race is a 24-hour onslaught,” Teal said. “You’re running in areas you can’t even hike into because you can’t hike that far in a day. You might not see anyone for three hours. It’s really cool.”

The two met in 2000 at Palomar Technologies, where Pate was a marketing manager when Teal was recruited as a mechanical engineer. They had both moved on to other companies when they started the ElliptiGO project. Two years ago they left those jobs to focus on it full time. The race to bring it to market screeched to a halt when they discovered Larry D. Miller, inventor of the first compact elliptical trainer for Precor, held the patent on the basic concept: using elliptical motion to propel a vehicle.

“That was one of the worst days,” said Teal. “We really thought we were going back to our day jobs.” Securing the intellectual property rights was crucial. Ultimately they approached Miller and acquired the exclusive license to his patent and focused their attention on other issues.

“Fundamentally, the long stride length was key,” Teal said. “It had to be made with safety in mind. It’s bigger than a bike, so it was challenging to keep the weight down. It had to be strong but light, and it also had to perform well.” Teal and Pate hold the patent on the adjustable drive system, which adjusts to 25 inches, 25 percent longer than an elliptical trainer. Patents are pending for other features such as the folding steering column, modular track system and composite drive arms. A staff of eight works out of Solana Beach and a retail shop will open mid-March. Customers won’t be able to buy an ElliptiGO, but they can order one or take a test ride.

“We have more customers than we have bikes,” Pate said. “We have real traction with legitimate professional athletes who are testing it and really like it.”

And then there are the e-mails coming in from people all over the world who want one. Or the guy in Germany who wants 300. They’ll have to wait. The first 85 of 2,000 bikes being made this year arrived in February and went to San Diego area customers.

“This is one of the greatest places to launch a product, not only because of the weather, but because of the huge number of triathlon and pro-cycling athletes here,” Teal said.

Teal made all the prototypes in his garage. Ramona’s high-end mountain bike builder Tony Ellsworth built the five echo prototypes at his Oregon facility, two of which were used in the Death Ride. Ellsworth also helped them find a manufacturer in Taiwan. According to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, 99.53 percent of the 31.9 million bicycles sold in the United States in 2008 (the last year figures are available) were imported from China and Taiwan, including North County-based Haro and Electra brands.

The company is financed by private investors, the majority of whom approached them, and are not professional investors.
“We’ve been pushed forward by events where we got really good feedback from a marketing standpoint at critical points where we had to make a leap of faith,” Pate said.

Teal admits a lot of startup projects wouldn’t give the satisfaction and pure enjoyment that this one has. “In the midst of trying to solve an engineering problem you jump on this thing and you go take a ride and think, ‘What a great job!’” Teal said. “I’m
testing new parts, I’m also marketing, I’m doing what I love and staying fit on a sunny day!”

“We think this is a fun, recreational, competitive device that will enable a significant number of people to improve their lives through recreation and exercise, and compete in a new way or compete again,” Pate said.

They solved one runner’s problem. In the process, they may have given birth to a new industry and a new sport.

By CAMERON LEIGH JAMES

Special to the Daily Transcript


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