Visor Leaf are a company offering tear offs with a difference. All their products are biodegradable and break down as fast as a leaf.
Tear offs are often a sight seen littering the trails, but for Tom and Rupert, it was the inspiration they needed to start Visor Leaf.
Pete grabbed Rupert, one half of the Visor Leaf team, for a chat.
So Rupert, who are you guys?
We’re the guys behind Visor Leaf. We became friends whilst at uni and we lived together for a few years post-graduation. I’m 26, Tom is 25.
How did Visor Leaf come about?
A few years back, Tom was just starting out in DH and was out for a ride at the Forest of Dean. He spotted the huge number of tear offs strewn around and he thought, what happens to all of these tear offs that we’re using? Who clears these ups?
That got the cogs turning and the wheels in motion for Visor Leaf. From here, Tom dedicated some of his time outside of his undergraduate degree to research materials and the various suppliers needed to create biodegradable tear offs.
After a couple of months of research for Visor Leaf, he started his MSc in Environmental Consultancy. Time outside of studying was incredibly limited so he had to put all things Visor Leaf on hold
Then, a year or so later Tom graduated and I (Rupert) moved down to Bristol. Tom mentioned the research he’d started me one evening over dinner and as an ex-motocross rider I saw how important the idea could be and we started work on the project once more in October 2016. After a year of research and testing, we launched in September 2017.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BantM7mhjKj/?taken-by=visorleaf
What’s your background in cycling?
Tom is an eager downhiller and has been riding for the last couple of years. He’s based in Abergavenny so Cwmcarn, Bike Park Wales and the Forest of Dean are all local haunts.
I’m a roadie, although I spent 10 years racing motocross and use my knowledge of the sport in all areas of Visor Leaf.
What’s your background in the cycling industry?
We have no specific manufacturing or business experience within the industry until Visor Leaf. We found that now we’re within the industry, we have so many more reasons (excuses) to attend more biking related events, tracks, shops, and exhibitions – it’s great!
Where are the tear offs made?
We make our tear offs in a warehouse in St Werburghs, Bristol, where I’m based.
How easy was it to find a material that did everything you wanted it to?
Not easy at all! Right from the off we decided we couldn’t compromise on durability, transparency or biodegradability. This meant many hours were spent researching, testing and rejecting the various options we found.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcHj0mphr65/?taken-by=visorleaf
How many people makeup Visor Leaf and what do they do?
For the day-to-day running of the business, it’s just us two guys. We are both responsible for everything from manufacturing, through to marketing and accounting. When you buy a pack of tear offs through our site you can be sure that it’s one of us who’s checked, packed and sealed your order.
As we are building our reputation and increasing the awareness about the biodegradable tear offs Visor Leaf produce we are sponsoring riders in MX, DH, and Enduro as we need professionals to set the right example on the big stage. We are in some very interesting conversations with some big names at the moment so stay tuned for updates!
What did you have to sacrifice to get to this stage?
Just the usual sacrifices anyone has to make when they’re just starting out – time and money. During the research phase, we’d be balancing other work commitments with producing prototypes. We’d be at the warehouse until late in the evening and then back there tweaking them at weekends.
Did you have day jobs that you had to give up?
I still work full time so my part in the day to day running of the business happens in the evenings and weekends.
Tom is involved in a few environmental focused projects and Visor Leaf is one of his full-time commitments, along with permaculture farming in Wales.
Are you working alongside to make ends meet?
We are both working other jobs in order to finance to initial stages of Visor Leaf. It’s both of our goals to turn Visor Leaf into something larger and expand the company on an international level.
How make or break is the company for you?
In all honesty, Visor Leaf is hugely make or break, but not just for us two guys. The real ‘make or break’ is for the environment that we ride in and our whole industry’s outlook on the plastic waste that ruins our tracks and trails.
We strongly believe that a change is needed and people eyes need opening to the impact that non-biodegradable plastic is having on the environment. If we do not make the change now, when will we?
Have you done any work previously that helped with Visor Leaf?
I previously ran an ethical menswear business called BRC Life. This taught me how important it is to look at the end-to-end impact of a product and supply chain. We employ this thinking at Visor Leaf and the environment is the first thing we think about in all decisions we make at Visor Leaf.
Tom’s studies for his MSc in Environmental Consultancy taught him a lot about the theoretical side of the impacts we have on our environment. He draws knowledge from his studies to help produce evidence and offer guidance in making better environmental choices.
How did you learn what you needed to know to get your own company off the ground and the tear offs in hand?
Much of what we do has been learned through day-to-day running of the business.
We listen to podcasts for social media marketing tips, watch TED talks for inspiration from other industries and speak to and learn from some very clever people who’ve been in the industry for much longer than we have (big shout out to Mark Almond here). We also think it’s hugely important to speak to the riders who are using our tear offs so we’ll chase them down for feedback and listen to anything our riders have got to say.
How many prototypes did you have before getting to the production tear offs?
A countless amount. Luckily, rather than the less effective prototypes going to waste, they’re now breaking down in compost heaps and in soil across the South West.
Beyond the development of prototypes, what form did your testing take?
Every new material, new thickness, new style we had to test thoroughly. This included; clarity tests, riding tests, breakdown tests and even destruction tests!
I’ve called upon a few guys that I used to race motocross with to test out the initial prototypes in an MX setting to make sure they function for both disciplines. We also used “testing days” as an excuse to get out on our bikes and hit up a few local trails.
Where next for Visor Leaf? How do you plan to go about getting extra helpers etc. etc.?
Our mission is simple; continue to create awareness about using biodegradable alternatives to plastic tear offs. We want to see more tracks and races ban the use of non-biodegradable tears offs and start demonstrating a positive practice within the industry.
We are currently having conversations with international distributors in Japan, North America, Canada, NZ and the Alps. Making a difference on a global scale is something that we feel is achievable and would it be extremely rewarding!
With the expansion in mind, we would certainly look to grow the core team at Visor Leaf. Having Visor Leaf representatives in heavy DH focused regions is something we are looking into; Canada, NZ and the Alps are hot on our list!
Anybody to thank at this point in the Visor Leaf journey? Long suffering spouses/parents/friends?
A big shout out needs to go to Mark Almond at Red Cloud. His advice and insights into the industry have been invaluable.
We have also had a huge amount of support and help from friends who come from various fields; engineering, design and copywriting. We couldn’t have got to where we are without these chaps’ help; Jeremy Fitter, Greg Jackson and Ryan Loftus!
