For a device that has been around as long as bicycles, it’s remarkable how many innovations continue to come about. Tubeless tires, for example, allow cyclists to avoid needing an inner tube, and liquid sealant inside the tire will automatically plug
small punctures.
Yet this solution created a new problem. The sealant dries up over time and the process of adding more is messy and frustrating. Tim Straz, an experienced cyclist, knew that all too well. Straz has spent his career in manufacturing and product design. He combined these two areas of expertise to create, and patent, a novel solution: a funnel with a threaded neck that screws directly onto the valve stem, making the chore of adding fresh sealant simpler and cleaner.
Straz Components, based in Wolfeboro, launched in September, and its website went live in November. Straz wanted to market his products directly to the end users, which meant venturing beyond his areas of expertise. “I’m a product person, so it’s fun to try and learn the sales and marketing and all the other things outside of my wheelhouse,” he says.
One of his marketing ventures involved sending samples of his funnel to people who might recognize its value. One of those people proved to be pivotal. “It all got really exciting at the beginning of January,” Straz says of when he sent a sample to a cycling journalist in Colorado, who wrote about the funnel in a newsletter. Orders started arriving immediately.
About six months later, Straz is shipping his funnels (each one made on a 3-D printer, for now) all over North America, as well as to Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Figuring out how to reach his market—a niche within a niche, as he needs to find cyclists that use tubeless tires—has been his biggest puzzle to date. He started with Google Ads but found he had his greatest return through Instagram. “I’m not of the age of social media users,” Straz says. “That has been a real adjustment to understand the different platforms and where my customers are.”
He hasn’t given up on the old methods, though. For the rest of the year, he plans to get his funnels in front of as many cycling industry experts as possible, and that means trade shows and other networking opportunities. “I’ve barely gotten started here. I’m excited to see how this goes and start introducing more products,” Straz says.
