Firm to sell personalised bike plates

Upset that you can't buy the personalised number plate you want for your car? Why not get one for your bike instead?

A Rotorua business has just launched www.bikeplates.co.nz, a website selling personalised bike plate IDs.

Endorsed by BikeNZ, New Zealand's national biking organisation, BikePlates are designed to appeal to all bike enthusiasts who want to become better known in cycling circles.

The BikePlates can be personalised with people's names, nicknames and other messages up to six letters or characters long.

They are made of a durable hard wearing, lightweight plastic and the names are printed on the reverse of each plate to make them permanent and unable to be scratched off.

Company owners Janine Arnerich and Gary McAuliffe hope the plates will quickly become the next must-have bike accessory among the country's cycling community.

They hit on the idea after an ideas session to find out how to bring "cohesion" to Rotorua's cyclists. "We are both keen bikers ... When you are out riding through the forest, someone will go whizzing past and you can't tell one rider from the next," Ms Arnerich said.

The company kept a database of every plate that was printed, so names could never be duplicated.

"So if you're the first 'Thomas', 'NZ1' or 'GR8M8' to book your plate, it will be exclusively yours."

Ms Arnerich and Mr McAuliffe were not worried about people ripping off their idea with a plastic icecream container and a felt tip pen.

"These are unique and that's because of the little BikeNZ logo in the corner.

"We are completely endorsed by BikeNZ." Thirty-five plates have been sold, but sales are expected to rapidly increase as word about the product spreads.

Each plate costs $100, although there is also a series of collectors' edition "HotPlates" available at $200 each, which would have names or words with special significance to the bike community, such as "Lance" or "Krank".

BikeNZ operations manager Mike Bryne said they were pleased to endorse the business.

"It's a new and interesting concept for New Zealand that should appeal to riders of all abilities, ages and skill levels."

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)