PEATY'S ARE KILLING IT: OFF THE DROP INTERVIEW WITH CO-FOUNDER TOM MAKIN
The Peaty’s guys have been killing it lately! From supporting top-level teams competing in the Enduro World Series and UCI Downhill to taking on the road tubeless revolution with British Continental team Canyon Eisberg. We even had the chance to meet up with Tom, Bryn and the man himself, Steve Peat, for a few beers and a ride at legendary Wharnecliffe Crags! These guys are super passionate about what they do and how they can make products which help riders have a better experience when out on the trails or roads.
Right now, Tom and Bryn are currently testing a few of our wheels (we can’t say exactly what they are on at the moment) but this gives us a great chance to gain a load of feedback from some guys who aren’t too shabby on the bike as well as tubeless tech insight.
We recently managed to catch the guys from Peaty’s about what goes into their sealant, lubricant, cleaner and degreaser.
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Name:
Tom Makin (co-founder of Peaty’s Products, Scientist and Captain of the Steve Peat Syndicate Enduro team for the past four years
Location: The arse end of Cheshire on the North Wales border
First Bike – what was it?
The first ‘proper’ bike I had was a silver and puce purple Saracen Havoc. I worked my arse off to buy doing a huge paper round at 5am each morning before school for £7 a week! I eventually saved up enough and as a reward, my parents got me a set of Judy XLC triple clamp forks for it. Within a week I was clubbed around the head by a passing car of youth and had it nicked. The joys of growing up on the outskirts of Liverpool eh. This question has just inspired me to look on eBay where I’ve just purchased the exact same bike for the office wall for £100!
Tom's riding story might have started on a Purple Saracen, but the Peaty's story started with their class leading Sealant.
Finish this sentence: Climbing on my bike is….always a pleasure and the most enjoyable way to put the world into perspective and become a kid again.
When we went for a ride with you guys up North, it was clear that you know your stuff of exactly what goes into your products. What are your backgrounds and how did you get started in the bike game? And how does Steve Peat fit into this? Is he any good with the tape gun packing boxes?
Firstly and most importantly, we are all cyclists. Of varying levels obviously but we are all mad keen about riding and racing bikes and that is the driving force behind Peaty’s.
Our skillsets fit nicely together too. I’m a Microbiological and Environmental scientist by trade, Bryn is a product designer developer guru and Peaty has an unparalleled understanding of riding, racing and the industry. Oh… and more World Cup wins then most people have had hot dinners!
The company started by accident really as we developed and made sealant with unique and specific properties for our own personal gains as racers. As Peaty retired from the World Cup Circuit we decided to release our secrets and start Peaty’s.
Loam Foam will keep your machine running fresh every single ride. It's a bike specific degrease so it means it won't kill your bearings or chew away at any rubber seals.
We all started packing the Peaty’s Tubeless Sealant by hand with catheter syringes in either my garage or in Peaty’s man cave. We soon upscaled as the demand grew.
We think it is safe to say that you guys are mostly known for your sealant and there is a whole lot riders don’t know about (different bases, particles to plug small holes, biodegradable materials – the list goes on). So, what makes Peaty’s sealant, Peaty’s sealant?
Good question! We wanted to produce a sealant that worked well but without the hassle. We needed something that wouldn’t dry out quickly, didn’t contain ammonia and other harmful compounds which can damage bike and environment and that was fully biodegradable (even the platelets). We achieved that so the result is an eco-friendly sealant that you don’t need to keep checking to see it has dried up on you.
Now you’ve grown wings and make a whole number of products what made you branch out and do chain lubricant, bike cleaner, degreaser and tubeless valves?
This was a natural progression for us really as we want to eventually have a full range of no-nonsense bike maintenance products that we design, test and are in full control of the development of. Not just some non-bike specific rebranded product out of a catalogue.
Peaty's now have a full range of products to keep any kind of bike rolling fresh.
The Loam Foam bike cleaner came about as we developed a unique formula and changed the physical properties of the solution to make it bind to and remove dirt more effectively but while still being safe to use on all components.
After almost a year of development work with bike lubricant manufacturer Wickens and Soderstum, we decided to take the company over. The Link Lube started life as their five star rated and uber expensive lubricant which we further improved, gave a facelift and reduced the cost of through economies of scale.
We almost had Ron Jeremy doing the ‘shake to wake’ advert for this but had to abort literally last second due to some questionable seedy behaviour that caught back up with him.
The formulation for the Foaming degreaser was another product that we stumbled across really whilst playing with active components and soon realised we could make a super strong foaming drivetrain degreaser that wouldn’t strip all the grease out of your bearings and wreck your bike.
Valves are difficult to improve on to be honest. They let air in and out and that’s about where it ends. We wanted to make a really sexy looking valve that incorporated a valve core remover into the cap. The real unique selling point though is that these are ‘Valves For Life’ which means that if you break them, we replace them for you.
Tom is doing some prototype testing. Constantly setting up tubeless tyres and not being too shabby on the bike, Tom is the perfect test pilot for our MTB wheels.
What are some vital tips for when applying lubricant to your chain? What are the “do’s and don’ts”?
Always wipe off the excess with any chain lube! The last thing you want is lube flicking up on your rotors and pads when heading into a big descent.
Triple distilled chain lubricant – sounds fancy! What are the advantages of having a triple distilled chain lubricant and how does this help when out on the trails?
The lubricant particles we blend into the lube are designed to fill imperfections between the moving parts of the chain. By triple distillation of our lubricant we remove even the smallest potential contaminants and are literally looking at attaining perfection on a microscopic level. We are a bit OCD like that!
Some riders will change up their lubricant according to the weather and trail conditions. Is Peaty’s chain lubricant able to be ridden in all conditions?
We wanted a lubricant that would work for 95% of all conditions so made a solid allrounder. Let's face it, in the real world you can head out on the trails in the dry and it rains or you still have puddles on the trails. One lubricant to do it all, spend the pennies you save on a couple of beers.
Cheers Tom!
If you want to check out more of Peatys Products, you can visit their site here. With a few cool projects on the way, we will be sure to keep you updated on the Hunt journal as well.