During the lockdown, I was in the Vosges mountains. Like many mountain bike enthusiasts during this period, I had a plan to create a trail in the forest. I was lucky enough to have a professional permit that allowed me to ride a mountain bike, but I wasn't allowed to bring my own tools. After several warnings from the forest ranger, I created a removable tool so I could discreetly go shaping on my bike. I think I spent more time designing the tool than working on my future trail, but the pleasure and passion were there, and that's what matters.
I roughly sketched a freehand outline of a multitool. This tool combined a pickaxe, a spade, a backfill claw, and a classic rake. I calculated the balance point on SolidWorks to center the handle there. For the removable handle, I opted for simplicity by choosing a bicycle seat clamp as the clamping part. I imagined the rake handle as a seatpost that splits into three parts. This system, tested and approved for years, has proven itself.
A victim of its own success, I had to put aside all my other mountain bike coaching activities to devote myself entirely to this project for more than three years. Entirely self-taught in metallurgy, marketing and e-commerce, I threw myself into this project like a child eager to learn. I bought a metal lathe, a TIG welder and a Parkside bandsaw to design the first large series of tools. It was crazy work, making the chamfers with the grinder, the conventional machining. It took at least 4 hours to design a Trailtool at the time.
To date, I have launched an entirely local production chain, from laser cutting, machining and bending to powder coating. I have self-employed friends who help me with welding and assembly, right through to packaging. I thank them infinitely. The Trailtool project still does not allow me to make a living from it. The goal is to create a job so that I can return to my activities as a Dirt/Freeride mountain bike coach and rider.
All this, while keeping the price inclusive and much more reasonable than the competition.
