#19: 2023 Sea Otter Recap
We wanted to share with you a quick recap about our recent successful exhibit at the 2023 Sea Otter Classic - the largest bike expo in the country. We had a blast! This outdoor event located in Monterey, CA, was a major milestone for us and provided an excellent opportunity to introduce our upcoming products and innovations to a wide audience of cycling enthusiasts. With company booths from Life Time, Specialized, Ford/Bronco, Santa Cruz, Continental, Lexus, USA Cycling, Pirelli, Michelin, Maxxis, Goodyear, Giant, Yeti, Red Bull and Adidas, The SMART Tire Company was proud to be included amongst these well-established global brands. (read more below)
Sea otters in space? Well, not exactly. Our area was quite popular though, and drew a lot of attention from attendees at the event (with a 15 foot inflatable rocket in front of our booth, we tended to stand out in the crowd!). We had a nice set up where we showcased a few of our METL airless tires, gave away some STC swag, and even had live demonstrations of the shape memory alloy technology that we use. People of all ages were amazed! We received an overwhelmingly positive response, with many attendees expressing their admiration for our commitment to American innovation, sustainability, and the high-level, consumer-first approach, incorporated into our products.
An airless tire that is lightweight, durable, affordable, re-treadable, with a smooth ride, that will never go flat, with no need for messy sealants, inserts, foams or patches, seemed too good to be true for some… until they actually checked out our tires for themselves. Let’s just say that our METL wait list and social media following has drastically increased since the Sea Otter event! We also learned that there is a very high demand for us to produce a SMART mountain bike tire as soon as possible! (Yes, we appreciate the enthusiasm, but let us get our gravel/road bike tires out the door, first!)
The current bicycle tire market (2023) is estimated to be worth around $7.2B USD and expected to reach $15.4B by 2033, growing at 7.8% CAGR from 2023 to 2033.
This success would not have been possible without the support of our WeFunder investor community, and we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for your continued support. Your investment has been instrumental in helping us to achieve our goals and reach this significant milestone.
As we move forward, we remain committed to delivering innovative, technologically advanced tires for bicycles, scooters, rovers and more, and will continue to share our progress with you. Thank you for being a part of our journey and we look forward to sharing more exciting updates with you soon.
Best regards,
The SMART Tire Company team
Seen here are dozens of flat tire carcasses from the 2023 Sea Otter Classic MTB races (from one team), oozing with messy, sticky sealants, that not only sucks for the rider, but are also difficult to handle and dispose of. Not exactly eco-friendly. We plan on solving this problem with our much cleaner, airless tires, built for the tough outdoors, using our patented space-age design.
