Laval University students invent a new bicycle pedal

Students from Laval University have invented a new bicycle pedal to put to rest the existential question: “clipped, or not clipped?” The product caught the eye of the French multinational Decathlon.

“Cyclists often have to drag a second pair of shoes when they go to work,” explains Jérémy Lévesque, an entrepreneurship student at Laval University. “There are even some who buy a second bike for their trips so they don’t have to use their pedals clip.»

With three fellow students, Magalie Boivin-Lacombe, Aurélie Turgeon-Thériault and Sophie-Anne Dubé, Jérémy designed a removable adapter platform that fits directly into a road pedal.

Unlike adapters of this type that already exist on the market, the “cyclip” prototype allows the addition of a strap over the platform which allows you to “push with one foot and pull with the other, even without be clipped», specifies the young man.

“The idea is also to make road cycling more accessible,” emphasizes Sophie-Anne Dubé. At the beginning, the clipsit’s scary, so it might be a good way to start.”

The pedal impresses

The quartet presented their invention in a competition organized by the Faculty of Administrative Sciences of Laval University and the Decathlon stores in Sainte-Foy and PEPS. It was about imagining a sports product aimed at reducing environmental impacts.

“We therefore made the pedal with sustainable materials, also with the idea of ​​encouraging greener transport,” explains Aurélie Turgeon-Thériault. “And we won!”

“The people at Décathlon in France really lit up,” underlines Romain Piron, business partner with the French multinational, specifying that around sixty projects were evaluated as part of the competition.

In the coming weeks, the four students will travel to the other side of the Atlantic to present their pedal to the company’s team of product designers.

“It’s really a great opportunity,” says Magalie Boivin-Lacombe, who intends to pursue a career in communications.

No patent

By participating in the competition, the young inventors assigned the rights to their pedal to Decathlon, and they signed an exclusivity agreement with Decathlon. “We knew what we were getting into,” explains Jérémy Lévesque, who is happy with the experience he was able to acquire in the process.

However, the multinational specifies that it is not in the habit of patenting its products. “Most of the time, we don’t do it,” explains Romain Piron. It’s not in our economic model, so it means that certain products we invented end up being sold elsewhere.”

“Afterwards, if it can reassure you, Decathlon designers are not millionaires,” adds Mr. Piron with a laugh. They are in this business to help make sport sustainably accessible and all that.”