Thread is a line of three products designed around the needs of bike messengers. Videos tell the story best. Enjoy!
Bicycle messengers are growing in the public consciousness, with numerous documentaries covering their aggressive riding as they deliver packages in dense cities. Despite that fact, no cycling gear brands have centered themselves around messengers or their following. Chrome brand messenger bags are the closest product to do so, and have excelled even among non-messengers.
Messenger-style riding is more similar to the challenges faced by commuters and other city riders than is competition road cycling, and therefore provides a better “extreme user” to design a line of products around than competition road cyclists, which brands like Specialized and Trek spawn from.
The Thread One is a set of aftermarket handlebars with an integrated 430 lumen LED headlight. Rotating the left bar end switches the light on, while a momentary switch under a rider's thumb on the left side allows the rider to flash the light.
The Thread Two is a bike lock made of a heavy duty chain with cast steel lock heads which lock to each other automatically when brought into contact with each other, and automatically unlock when the user carrying the key fob returns to within 6 feet of the bike. The lock bodies are rubber-coated, and the chain is covered in a ballistic nylon sleeve to protect the paint on the bike it's locking.
The Thread Two lock attaches magnetically to included magnetic wraps which go around a messenger's bag strap.
To secure the lock, users just click the two ends toghether.
Way too much work went into this project to show here. To see all the market strategy, research, brand development, form and mechanical development, and a few prototyping shots, see the process page at
