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Leatt Corporation Unveils the New ADVenture Brace(TM)
"We are pleased to introduce the ADVenture Brace(TM) to the motor sports market," said Chris Leatt, CEO of Leatt Corporation. "Due to the unprecedented success of the Leatt-Brace(TM) Moto GPX Club and Sport models in competitive motocross and off road racing, we were determined to establish a more affordable neck protection device for the larger recreational motorcycle markets."
The Leatt ADVenture Brace(TM) retails at or about US$195. For more information on the ADVenture Brace(TM) and other products offered by Leatt Corporation, please visit the company website at www.leatt-corp.com.
Another new Leatt product under development.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ia.jsp?ia=IB2008/051675
I consider it the most obvious accessory to add to a neck brace and it's good to see it being developed or, at the very least, being thought about.
Sitting on the neck brace technology alone will not sustain them forever.
Leatt-Brace® has been accepted for use in all NHRA classes
CAPE TOWN, South Africa October 28, 2008, - Leatt Corporation (OTC: LEAT.PK), a Nevada, USA Corporation headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, and the distributor of the Leatt-Brace®, a Neck Brace System designed to help prevent potentially devastating motor sport injuries to the cervical spine (neck), today announced that the Company has received notice from the National Hot Rod Association (“NHRA”) that the Leatt-Brace® has been accepted for use in all NHRA classes via it’s SFI 38.1 certification.
“We are extremely excited about this acceptance from the NHRA. This world renowned organization currently has a membership role of 80,000 members and more than 35,000 licensed competitors with one hundred forty member tracks across North America hosting NHRA competitions in NHRA's seven geographic regions,” said Mr. Jeff Guzy, President of the Company. “The acceptance of our product line by the NHRA elevates us even higher into a community of racers that will benefit from the unique safety and design of our products.”
Leatt Corporation Withdraws Suit Against Alpinestars
The Company has withdrawn its patent infringement suit against Alpinestars S.P.A. and Alpinestars USA Inc. ("Alpinestars") for importation and sale of Alpinestars' Bionic Neck Brace, not because of any weakness in the Company's case, but because the Company has concluded that Alpinestars' product is unlikely to gain even a toehold in the United States market. As a result, the Company believes that it should focus its efforts on promoting the Leatt-Brace® Neck Brace System in the United States, rather than on litigating this infringement claim. The Company withdrew its suit without prejudice, thus preserving its future rights against Alpinestars.
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Leatt-Corporation-911105.html
It was already known, but this is the official announcement.
New Investor Relations website is up for Leatt.
http://www.leatt-corp.com/
Doesn't look like there is any new information listed, however.
Good find. I missed that.
So, as of June 6th 2008 they say 70,000.
http://leatttalk.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=35&page=1#Item_0
As of Sept 23, its "over" 100,000.
http://leatttalk.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=65&page=1#Item_0
The cheapest brace as of now is the "Moto GPX" which retails for 395.00 and as far as I know they make their resellers stick to that price.
Leatt has a new discussion website available.
http://leatttalk.com/categories.php
This is the same website with a different address that I noted in Post 302 that was password protected soon after. It is now available for viewing again.
It confirms what was posted earlier, especially the tidbit about 70,000 GPX braces sold as of June. It would be interesting to know how many other braces have been sold.
FWIW
A few more product development details.
This is the classic Leatt Brace everyone knows about that started the whole thing.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?wo=2005051251
http://www.google.com/patents?id=BgGAAAAAEBAJ&dq=Leatt
This is a helmet design they appear to be working on which was noted in Post 302.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ia.jsp?ia=IB2006%2F002866&IA=IB2006%2F002866&DISPLAY=STATUS
I noticed in the Wipo Applicants section of the helmet the following people were listed.
LEATT BRACE HOLDINGS (PTY) LTD
LEATT, Christopher James
NELSON, Grant Leigh
HOPKINS, Mark Eric
This one appears to be the Moto-R or a variant of it. I question it because I don’t know if the Moto-R used straps.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=2008050307
These are devices that I have not seen before.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ia.jsp?ia=IB2008/051037
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ia.jsp?ia=IB2007/054327
I noticed that the same names appear under the Applicants section, more a less.
I am especially interested in the second product. It appears to be body armor similar to what is already available, but it integrates more fully with the existing Leatt brace. With the news of yet another rider being badly hurt with a spinal injury…
http://www.bmrt.com/
I have always thought it was a no-brainer to come out with a spinal protection system that would integrate with the Leatt brace. No straps needed. Just put on the armor and the brace attaches to it. The “protective garment” product appears to only show front protection, but one would hope that they could see a market for an innovative, comfortable, full spinal shield device with the same revolutionary engineering that went into the Leatt Brace. Something comfortable enough that even the pro’s would be use.
If they could add value to the Leatt Brace with the use of accessories that complement it, that would significantly improve revenue. However, I am fully aware that the efficient rollout of new products is lacking with this company.
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The first page of this board
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=8068
has a dead link referring to a patent valuation of 130 Million dollars.
http://www.leatt-brace.com/investorinfo/Savant%20Patent%20Valuation%2016-05-2006.pdf
I remember reading that document but it is no longer available. The company that appears to have done the evaluation…
http://www.savantic.co.za/index_files/SavantAnalyticLeattBracecasestudy.htm
makes note of the evaluation but does not list the details of it, just the fact that they did one. My memory says they talked about the worldwide market for helmet protection and extrapolated out of that a predicted demand for neck protection. I don’t remember the specific numbers being thrown around.
The whole report was quite upbeat. I thought it was a little too upbeat at the time but now I think it may be closer to the truth, especially if more two wheeled competition mandates come into play.
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In early summer of this year they announced a new product called the ADVenture Brace
http://leatt-brace.com/index.php?page_id=43&id=3
which is a cheaper version of their current products, with less adjustability, among other things. I suspect this was to combat some of the cheaper knock-offs that were appearing or threatening to appear along with quite a bit of grumbling regarding the price of the brace.
Unfortunately, this may have been a screw up not from the standpoint of a more affordable product, but from the fact that countless people decided not to buy their existing product and wait for a possible cheaper alternative.
The problem is the cheaper alternative is still not available as far as I know. The result is that those people waiting are not buying ANYTHING from Leatt and in fact may be buying a cheaper competitors product, as inferior as they are.
As a business man myself, I don’t tell people I have something cheaper coming along to complement my existing products, encouraging those that are on the fence about purchasing my stuff to wait, then never deliver in a timely manner. I get nothing and it leaves a huge opening for other products to take that place of my promised device.
The problem is not innovation and creative thinking, it is execution as has been pointed out here and elsewhere time and time again.
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The good thing about Leatt is the incredibly creative products and, hopefully, with more to come. When the Ipod came out, there were already plenty of MP3 players, but they made it work. With Leatt, there were motorcycle neck contraptions available, but they made it work. Other than AlpineStars, which does appear to be a good copy of the Leatt, and it IS a copy, the other products that came out are a joke.
The bad thing about Leatt is poor business execution. Let’s face it, it’s a new company not unlike any number of startups with a cool idea. They have current products with what appears may be more to come, but the management of the business needs obvious improvement. I will give them room to say they were unprepared by the demand, but it has been long enough for them to get their house in order.
The markets are unsteady, to say the least. That, combined with the fact that Leatt stock trades in the equivalent of a dark alley behind a butcher shop is not helping them to relist.
The little voice in my head keeps whispering “what if they don’t really want to”? It costs money to be a regular reporting company. They may think, “Hey, were doing fine financially, why rock the boat? Lets just do our own thing. We’re so close to being a private company, lets act like one”.
I remember reading a report that the insiders all have substantial positions in the company, so I am hoping my voice is just being stupid.
On a personal note, I really want this company to succeed. I’ve been riding for decades now and the paralyzing injuries we are seeing are really bothering me. With everything getting faster and gnarly, there has definitely been an uptick in the injury rate.
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As some may already know, Post 302 had links to a website with company information that is now password protected.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/index.php?show=all
Further explanations of this site were provided in later posts.
I just wanted to add that you can click on any of the other companies listed and view them, but the Leatt link asks for a password. Last Sunday this was not the case. I was able to access Leatt just like any of the other companies.
The point being this appears to be a response to those links posted, which means that someone is reading this board.
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In closing, I hope that the delay with everything is due to not only wanting to get their financial reporting in order, but also roll out a new product or two in a big splash. Obviously is does not take this long to get books in order, so there ARE other factors at play here.
It has been said that maybe the financials are not good and that is the reason for the delay. Maybe so, which would be a colossal shame at all levels. It is rare that a company can come out with such a revolutionary product that is unique and can literally save lives. In my circles and all across the Internet, people are rabid fans of this product.
You cannot buy advertising like that!
For now, I wait. I’ve done my due diligence the best I can and put money on the table. I am not willing to risk any more.
We’ll see if anything is there to pick up later.
A bit more information about the now password protected links in Post 302.
Again, Sundy night I was able to access this website via Google searches.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/index.php?show=all
Sometime in the next 36 hours the site was password protected everywhere. Several of the links in post 302 referenced Q & A pages in this website.
The .ZA domain is South Afica, the home of the Leatt Brace people.
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Regarding the laceration to a riders neck. It generated a lot of talk in MX circles. I was alerted to the incident at the following link.
http://www.planetminis.com/f71/leat-brace-cuts-kneck-65015.html
At one time it had a picture of the injury posted in the first message on the board. However, it can be seen here also.
http://midsouthmx.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=484&hilit
Both threads point out the fact that Leatt contacted them and asked for the helmet and brace to inspect it.
The now password protected link in post 302 revealed the result of their investigation. They stated that no flesh could be found on the Leatt brace, only blood, indicating the laceration was caused by something else.
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For those in the MX world there has also been a lot of debate regarding the Leatt brace breaking clavicles (collarbones).
Their response was something to the affect that the clavicle is one of the most easily broken bones in the body. Striking the ground or an object from the side can easily break it, among other ways. In the nutshell, they rejected the premise that the brace contributes to broken collarbones.
On a side note, I was riding this spring with a Leatt on and a buddy of mine was also riding, with no Leatt brace. He crashed on pavement and, you guessed it, broke his collarbone, among other things. He was out of work for 6 weeks, his wife said no more and he’s out of the game.
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I posted the same link for two different data points. The question was something to the affect of “Has the Leatt brace reduced the amount of neck related injuries since it was introduced?”.
The answer was stated something like this. They said that 70,000 braces have been sold and to their knowledge there has been no neck related, paralysis type injuries to riders using the Leatt brace.
They went on to say that according to data, there has been an overall reduction in reported neck injuries. They used the term “1000 fold reduction”. They did not cite any study that could be referenced, so take it for what that’s worth. The number of braces sold caught my eye the most.
This Q & A was posted on June 6, 2008. They mentioned the 70,000 braces only in the context of injuries reported, not some sort of financial report. Obviously an entire season of riding (and buying) has gone by since then.
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Regarding some sort of neck brace mandate and certification. Nothing too detailed other than they are lobbying various sanctioning bodies and pursuing various certifications.
The questioner was specifically asking about CE Certification, which I don’t know anything about. I know they have achieved SFI 38.1, which is a pretty big deal.
So, that's all I know. I was surprised, to say the least, that I could access this stuff Sunday night then by Tuesday I needed a username and password. None of it appeared to be earth shattering information. I remember thinking "Why don't they put some of this stuff out in a press release?".
The questions were answered by what appeared to be Leatt representatives in a matter of fact way. They weren't trying to promote or brag about anything. It appeared to be informational in nature and something you might find in a FAQ page on a manufacturers website.
FWIW
Some of the links are now password protected.
Sorry Guys.
This is the site that I was able to get into Sunday night.
I found it doing typical Google searches.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/index.php?show=all
When i try to click on the Leatt section, a login prompt is shown.
If you enter Leatt kontrol.co.za in the Google search bar you get to a password change site which is how I found this place. However, even the password change site is password protected.
Apparently I stumbled onto content that should not have been available to the public.
Corrected certification link.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/leatt/leatt-forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=46&page=1#Item_0
My apologies.
Leatt information.
The Leatt-Brace website now has a press release archive of some previous statements issued. There is nothing new, but I found it curious that these announcements suddenly returned to their website. Many of you will recall that the site was completely scrubbed of nearly all press releases earlier.
http://www.leatt-brace.com/index.php?page_id=11&msg_id=133&id=2
A history of press releases can still be found all over the Internet, of course.
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It appears they are working on a new helmet design with a deformable inner layer.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ia.jsp?ia=IB2006%2F002866&IA=IB2006%2F002866&DISPLAY=STATUS
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As is already known, they are coming out with a newer, cheaper neck brace called the ADVenture Moto GPX. I have been told right from the horses mouth that it will be available at the end of this month (September). Note that we also heard the end of July. The end of September date was also noted at the following link. See bottom post.
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-676937.html&s=af9ff804e009802350578c4ba62f19a6&
The last thing I want is Leatt getting into a price war with itself. However, the current brace and this one are sufficiently different that I believe they will co-exist nicely.
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As has been noted, Leatt has brought legal action against various companies including Fro and Alpine Stars. Fro was defeated and the Alpine Stars action was taken on April 26 2007.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-cacdce/case_no-2:2007cv02742/case_id-387651/
However, it was voluntarily dismissed. One wonders if an agreement was reached or did the case have no merit. Anyone know?
Office: Western Division - Los Angeles
Filed: 04/26/2007
Jury Demand: Plaintiff Demand:
Nature of Suit: 840
Cause: 15:1051 Trademark Infringement
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
Disposition: Dismissed - Voluntarily
County: XX US, Outside California
Terminated: 06/20/2008
The Alpinestars unit, if it eventually reaches the market, costs quite a bit more than the GPX unit and a lot more than the soon to be released ADVenture.
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As of June 6, 2008, it appears 70,000 Leatt Brace Moto GPX braces have been sold.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/leatt/leatt-forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=35&page=1#Item_0
Obviously this figure is probably an estimate, so take it with a grain of salt.
It does not include this summer.
It appears to apply to only the GPX model. Other models are being sold right now.
It uses the word “sale”, as in sold. I take that as not including sponsored riders\events or giveaways.
The brace is used in more than motocross and I am not sure that number extends to other sporting events such as the various forms of auto racing or even mountain biking.
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This is a little blurb that’s been out there for a while. See the second company listed. I know nothing about this site so again, grain of salt time.
http://www.savantic.co.za/index_files/Page470.htm
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There has been talk about the Leatt brace causing some injuries. A popular one was the brace caused a severe laceration to a rider. This was their response.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/leatt/leatt-forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=37&page=1
Also, there has been talk about increases in collarbone (clavicle) breakage when using the Leatt Brace. This is their response.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/leatt/leatt-forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=31&page=1
It has been asked whether or not there been any reduction in neck injuries since the brace has been released. This is their response.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/leatt/leatt-forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=35&page=1
It has also been asked if the neck braces will be mandated. Obviously, in some forms of auto racing neck restraints ARE mandatory. This is their response.
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/leatt/leatt-forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=43&page=1#Item_0
They are pursuing various forms of certification for the neck braces
http://kontrol.co.za/clients/leatt/leatt-forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=35&page=1
http://www.pr.com/press-release/25001 (old news)
There are other certifications being applied for also. I didn’t bother to link to them.
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Remember, early 2007 was not good for them. Trading was suspended due to a SPAM email problem. As far as I know, the company was not implicated, but no resolution to the issue was ever announced as far as I know.
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2007/2007-34.htm
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Their web page describing the people in charge has changed personnel. Unfortunately, I did not save the previous listing.
http://leatt-brace.com/index.php?page_id=10&id=2
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I understand there are 110 million shares allocated and the insiders have quite a few of them. They had that information on their website at one time but I did not save it. Anyone know?