Tngnt Ski Bikes combine the sports of mountain biking and downhill skiing with their uniquely designed ski bikes. But, will the Sharks want to take a ride with this new adventure sports company? Find out all about it in our Tngnt Ski Bikes Shark Tank update.
What is Tngnt Ski Bikes?
Tngnt Ski Bikes is a company which produces bicycles, similar to mountain bikes, but they are designed with skis, rather than tires, for downhill skiing. The company is located in Bluffdale, Utah.
Tngnt Ski Bikes combine a high-performance design with traditional bike parts to give outdoor enthusiasts a new way to hit the slopes in winter, with the feel of riding their mountain bike on top of the fresh white powder.
Who created Tngnt Ski Bikes?
Tngnt Ski Bikes was founded by high school friends Scott Carr and Bill Pierce. Scott and Bill grew up during the mountain bike revolution of the 80s and early 90s, and they were both passionate about their two-wheeled hobby.
Along with his love of the outdoors, and especially mountain biking and skiing, Scott Carr has also had a long career in the tech industry. He started his career working in Data Storage for HP, and for over 19 years, he has worked as a systems engineer, specializing in data storage and security for a number of tech companies.
Like his co-founder and high school friend, Bill Pierce has also always loved adventure sports and being outdoors, and he, too, has had a long career working in engineering and product design in the tech industry. Bill has worked for many years in aerospace technology, and his friend Scott calls him “a real rocket scientist.”
How did Tngnt get started?
Tngnt Ski Bikes was founded in 2014 after co-founder Scott Carr had been working with other startup ski bike companies. Scott decided to approach his long-time friend, Bill Pierce, to see if Bill would be willing to work with him to design their own ski bike that would address many of the problems which Scott had encountered while working with the other companies who were trying to develop a ski bike.
Scott and Bill began working to design and prototype a completely new type of ski bike. Playing to each of their strengths, combining Bill’s background in professional design and aerospace technology, with Scott’s knowledge of mountain bike and ski bike technology, they were able to create working prototypes during their first year in operation.
While Scott and Bill’s first prototypes had good frames, and were built solidly, they knew that they were still missing something if they wanted to create an entirely new product in the ski industry. The friends realized that they needed to come up with an improvement in the retention system, the area that connects the bike to the ski. After more design work, prototyping and vigorous testing, the Tngnt SRS system was created. This system was created to emulate the motion, strength, and flexibility of the rider’s legs in order to create a safe, responsive ride.
Finally, the company applied for and received a patent for their ski retention system, which keeps the skis in contact with the ground, and this feature differentiates the Tngnt Ski Bikes from the other competitors in the industry.
What happened to Tngnt before Shark Tank?
Prior to entering the Tank, Tngnt had already been in business for 7 years, and they had been selling their ski bikes for about 6 years. The company had lifetime sales of about $500k when they pitched to the Sharks, but in the year prior to filming the Tngnt episode, they had $175k in sales, and for the current year, they were projecting $250k in sales.
Both co-founders Scott and Bill had been working full-time engineering jobs for the entire time that they had been running Tngnt, and this may account for some of the slow growth of the company. However, the co-founders did realize that they were trying to not only create a new product category, but a new sport as well, and this seemed to be their primary reason for wanting to attract a Shark; they knew that with a Shark onboard they could attract a great deal of attention for this new sport of ski biking.
What do customers think of Tngnt Ski Bikes?
Even though Tngnt Ski Bikes has been in business for over 7 years, with sales still only in the hundreds of units, there are few customer reviews online, particularly from third-party sites. However, on the Tngnt Facebook page, we did find 28 ratings, with an average rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
What are customers saying about Tngnt Ski Bikes?
We found only two reviewers who were willing to leave a comment on the Tngnt Facebook page, so below, we have also included a few words from a review by a bike industry professional as well.
First, on the company Facebook page, one satisfied customer commented that the company is “always quick to respond whenever I have a silly question about how to work on my bike, always helpful with supplying spare parts, leashes, boost spacers, etc. I absolutely love my Carve 2.0. I love to ride my mountain bike, but can’t snowboard or ski for the life of me. The ski bike is quick to learn on, think less than a day, and it makes the winter season a blast!”
Another Facebook customer seemed to have the opposite experience with Tngnt’s customer service: “My ski bike is great. But the customer service is terrible. The suspension pivot bolts on my bike are bent, and I need to replace them, but I can’t get a hold of anyone, and it’s depressing considering how much I spent on the bike. I’d just like to purchase new pivot bolts for my bike. Other than that I like the bike.”
Finally, a professional from Guthrie Bicycle in Utah took to the slopes with a Tngnt Ski Bike, and he wrote about the experience:
“Riding a ski bike is similar to snowboarding in that you are going from edge to edge to make turns, just standing forwards instead of sideways. Keeping your weight toward the front of the bike is key to maintaining control, as it allows the front edge to cut through the snow and initiate a turn.
For the first few runs, I often had to drop my inside foot down to maintain balance and force the edges to grab. This wasn’t exactly easy – on more than one occasion I slipped out or caught an edge, bucking me off the bike. Once I got the hang of it though I had a blast venturing off the groomers, especially on the Tngnt Carve with full suspension. Having a shock in the rear really adds to that mountain bike feel. Rather than soaking up bumps with my legs like I do when I’m skiing, I was able to plow straight into chunky terrain and let the bike do its thing.”
When did Tngnt Ski Bikes appear on Shark Tank?
Tngnt Ski Bikes appeared on Shark Tank in Season 14, Episode 17, which aired on March 17th, 2023. The company pitched to regular Sharks Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Cororan, and Robert Herjavec.
Tngnt Ski Bikes was not the only outdoor adventure company to pitch in the Tank in Season 14, check out our FLATED Shark Tank update for another innovative twist on outdoor gear.
What happened to Tngnt Ski Bikes on Shark Tank?
Tngnt Ski Bikes co-founders Scott Carr and Bill Pierce entered the Tank and asked the Sharks for a $200k investment in return for a 20% equity stake in their company.
Tngnt co-founder Scott Carr entered the Tank and opened the pitch by saying, “Sharks, Bill and I are both avid mountain bikers, and for us, there is nothing better than a summer morning riding our favorite trail. The only problem is, once the snow falls, we have to put our bikes away.”
Bill then told the Sharks that they also really love skiing, which prompted Scott to ask, “What if we could take the best of both of these sports and combine them into a single product, which is both easy to learn and outrageously fun?”
Next, the Tngnt team told the Sharks that this is exactly what they had done with Tngnt Ski Bikes; they had created a new way to hit the slopes with a combination of high-performance design and traditional bicycle parts. They told the Sharks that ski biking was easy to learn, and if you could ride a bike, you can ride a ski bike.
During the pitch, the Sharks saw a number of action videos of riders on Tngnt Ski Bikes, and they seemed to be impressed. Lori Greiner asked the first question when she asked the Tngnt team if the product was brand new, or if they had been selling them for a while. Scott told Lori that they had created the ski bikes about 7 years ago, and they had been selling them for 6 years.
Robert next mentioned that he had never seen one at a ski resort, and Scott quickly replied, “That’s why we’re here.” Barbara Corcoran then wanted to hear about sales since they had been in business for so long, and she learned that the company had lifetime sales of $500k, and during the past year, their sales were $175k, and they were projecting $250k in sales for the current year.
Mark Cuban wanted to know how many units the company had sold the previous year, and Bill told him that it was 200 units. Kevin O’Leary next described what he thought could be a big problem for the company, as he said that when snowboards first came out, many ski resorts banned them, so he wanted to know if this was a problem for the ski bikes as well. Mr. Wonderful was told that in the US over 200 resorts currently welcome ski bikes.
Robert inquired about Tngnt competitors, and he discovered that there were two other companies, one making very high-end handmade products, and another company about the same size as Tngnt; however, the Tngnt team told Robert that their ski bikes were superior due to their patented ski retention system, which was designed to keep the skis in contact with the ground.
Mark Cuban asked about the retail price of the bikes, and Bill informed him that they had two models, the entry point bike, the Tngnt Drift, retailed for $999, and the Carve, the more expensive model, was $1549. Kevin O’Leary wanted to know the difference between the two models, and Bill explained that the lower cost model had front suspension while the more expensive one had a full suspension system.
When Lori next wanted to know why they weren’t selling more bikes, Bill tried to explain that they were still new, but Mark Cuban said, “It’s not that new.” O’Leary shot back to ask if the guys were working in the business full time, and he learned that they were both part time with Tngnt, as they each had full time engineering jobs.
After hearing about the company’s already fairly long history, and its slow rate of sales, some Sharks appeared to be ready to swim away quickly.
Did Tngnt Ski Bikes get a deal on Shark Tank?
Tngnt Ski Bikes successfully negotiated a deal on Shark Tank. The company agreed to a deal with Robert Herjavec for an investment of $200k in return for a 40% equity stake in the company.
Mark Cuban spoke up first, telling the Tngnt team that they needed to be working with, rather than competing against, the other two manufacturers in the ski bike market in order to promote the sport of ski biking and the products that go along with it. He said that they needed to build the pie so that everyone could grow. He then indicated that it was too much of a niche market for him right now.
Next, there was some discussion among the Sharks about the spelling of the company name and its logo. Barbara Corcoran said of the Tngnt logo, “I think it really sucks!” Barbara, an avid skier, also commented that the ski resorts would not be happy with bikers taking up extra space on the lifts, and she went out, as she believed many resorts would not allow the ski bikes on the slopes.
Mr. Wonderful announced that he found the product to be interesting, and he could go either way, but the little Mr. Wonderful on his shoulder was whispering, ‘What are you, an idiot, you’ll spend all day working on this!’ Lori followed O’Leary down the mountain, as she said that the product looked cool and fun, but they hadn’t sold many over the years, so the market has spoken, and she said, “I listen to that.”
Robert then explained that he understood that sometimes you give the consumer what they want, and other times, you have to create a category. He told the Tngnt team that the bikes look super cool, and the challenge is to get others to think its cool. Robert then said he had a friend who was a winter sports Olympic gold medalist, so he would make an offer of $200k for 40%, in hopes of getting his friend to come into the business and split Robert’s investment so that they would have 20% each.
The other Sharks and the Tngnt guys seemed confused by Robert’s offer, so he clarified by saying, my friend is Shaun White, Olympic snowboarding champion, and my offer is not contingent on Shaun coming in, but I think we need to bring in someone like that to promote the sport.
Finally, Chris came back with a counter offer of 30% equity, but Robert quickly responded that he wasn’t going to negotiate, that he needed the 40%. Bill then turned to Robert, and said, “Welcome to the Tngnt family.”
Tngnt Ski Bikes Shark Tank update, what happened next?
Since Tngnt Ski Bikes have been in business for around 8 years now, we thought that it would be fairly easy to find reporting on how things went for the company after their Shark Tank episode; however, aside from regular social media posts of folks riding Tngnt Ski Bikes down the slopes, there has been almost no reporting, either in the press, nor from the company, on what happened after the Tngnt episode aired.
There is no news available on whether or not the deal with Robert has closed, and surprisingly, we’ve found no interviews with the Tngnt team post Shark Tank. We find this to be very unusal in that most companies really want to capitalize on the Shark Tank exposure by getting out into the mass media and telling their story.
Did the company perhaps not experience a Shark Tank effect, or is there something going on here behind the scenes? We will continue watching carefully to see if there are any signs of new developments for Tngnt Ski Bikes.