A Dunedin-designed bike case has won an award for best accessory at an international cycling trade show in Germany.
The Thule Round Trip Pro bike travel case, which features an integrated work stand, was designed by Freeload for global brand Thule.
It is the second consecutive year that Thule has won an innovation award at Eurobike with a Freeload-designed product. The trade show, which is held in Friedrichshafen, southern Germany, was opened by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Freeload is a design innovation company founded by Pat Maguire, initially to design and commercialise his invention of a fully adjustable, self-securing bicycle carrier rack.
Freeload later signed an intellectual property deal with Thule, alongside a contract to design further load-carrying products for bikes.
The Thule brand, which was established in Sweden in 1942, sells accessories to simplify the transportation of equipment.
Freeload designer Gary Gibson said the team started working on the bike bag project about 18 months ago and it had since gone through ''a couple of evolutions''.
The bike attached to a ''click rail system'' and the same system, when the bike was removed from the bag, meant it went on to a tripod arrangement that turned into a work stand.
When the cyclist got to their destination, they could use the bike on a tripod. The bag, which was a hybrid between a hard case and a soft bag, also collapsed so it did not take up so much room, he said.
