About

The Spokester™ bicycle noisemaker was invented to improve on the decades old idea of attaching baseball cards to a bicycle to simulate a motorcycle sound. The goal was to develop a simple, inexpensive product that was durable and produced an exciting, low pitched engine-like sound. The result is a clever one-piece design which fits all children’s bicycles. Spokesters are quality tested to last over come in five exciting colors: red, orange, green, black, and blue.

Creation of the Spokester:
To design the Spokester, its inventor Kevin Nelson made dozens of trips to local bike shops, retail stores, and playgrounds – anywhere he could research, measure and record the dimensions of existing bicycles. He experimented with numerous materials including credit cards, paper, and metal until he settled on an injection molded, flexible plastic concept. The result is a clever, one-piece design which fits all children’s bicycles. The semicircular clamping portion features a lead-in, which allows the user to simply press the product on to any size bicycle fork, in contrast with other products on the market which require
installation with screws or zip ties. The thin paddle section strikes the turning spokes to produce a pleasing rumble. Decorative fins and the Spokester logo are molded into the product, which comes in a variety of exciting colors.

Testing and Durability:
Playtrix uses a unique, full-scale testing apparatus to ensure product quality and durability. The machine incorporates an actual twenty-inch bicycle, turning its front wheel at 115 rpm. Random Spokesters are tested on the bike for three million flexing cycles, which is equivalent to two hundred miles of riding. So far, not a single Spokester has failed the test.

Safety:
The Spokester is also a safety device. It alerts motorists and pedestrians that a Spokester bike is approaching. A number of industrial and aerospace companies with large campuses use Spokesters as part of their safety programs. Their employees use bicycles to move between buildings or hangars, and the Spokesters alert others of their approach.

Availability and Reaction:
Playtrix sells Spokesters on its website spokester.com and on amazon.com. Sales have risen steadily through the years as parents and grandparents seek out the product for their loved ones. They remember the joy they felt when they used baseball cards on their bikes. They love to see the look on their child’s face the first time they hear the sound of the Spokester. And they appreciate the fact that the Spokester encourages creative play and exercise – something no video game can claim. Many parents purchase Spokesters for use as gifts, birthday party favors or at Christmas time as stocking stuffers.

About Playtrix:
Established in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2004, Playtrix LLC is a small consumer products company. Formed by Kevin Nelson after he invented the Spokester bicycle noisemaker, the company designs, manufactures, and sells innovative products for consumer applications. Playtrix moved to Raleigh, NC in
2007 and has become a true family run business. Kevin handles product design and manufacturing. His son Adam – a graphic designer – takes care of all marketing duties (packaging, web design, e-commerce, branding, etc.) and runs the warehouse. Kate, his daughter, leads the company’s social media efforts
with daily content submissions to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and other platforms. The youngest son Eric assists with product engineering and sales.


"We want to give kids an incentive to get outside and enjoy riding their bikes instead of playing video games or sitting inside. We hope our product stimulates the imagination and provides hundreds of hours of good old-fashioned fun.”  
-- Kevin Nelson