BODY BIKE OceanIX: A world-first in the battle against plastic pollution

NEWS

BODY BIKE OcceanIX
BODY BIKE Smart+ OceanIX

Together we can turn the Tide

In response to the global crisis of plastic pollution in our oceans, BODY BIKE® has announced a world-first: an indoor cycling bike that’s built using recycled plastic from commercial fishing nets.

The new bike, OceanIX, is a BODY BIKE® SMART+. It comes with all the functionality you’d expect from a SMART+ model, including ANT+ and BLE integration to allow performance data to be sent to the rider’s personal device; the data can then be uploaded to Strava. Riders can also charge their device through the power generated as they cycle.

However, the OceanIX deliberately comes in just one distinctive colour: ocean blue.

Collected fishing nets - PlastIX factory

Built using recycled fishnets

The recycled plastic used in the bike is sourced from a Danish company, Plastix, which buys old plastic fishing nets from commercial fishing fleets in Alaska, Scotland, Scandinavia and Iceland. This prevents the nets from being discarded in the ocean, burned or buried in landfill.

The nets are then manually sorted and turned into pellets of recycled plastic, which can be used for other purposes.

Group photo of the OceanIX team during the photoshoot for the campaign.

We could no longer just sit back

Uffe A Olesen, CEO of BODY BIKE, explains: “When we met with the team at Plastix, I immediately started thinking about how we might use this recycled plastic. The situation in our oceans is to my mind unacceptable; I could no longer just sit back and watch.

“So, we bought a tonne of the Plastix material to experiment – to see how we might use it in our production process. The result is a very special bike, OceanIX, which we manufacture using this recycled fishing net material.

“OceanIX is something we’re incredibly proud of. It isn’t just a piece of gym equipment. It’s part of a cause. It’s something we’re doing because we feel it’s the right thing to do, and it’s something we believe will appeal to everyone who wants to do their bit for the planet.

“It’s also the first piece of commercial gym equipment in the world to use this material.”

OceanIX will be officially launched at the FIBO 2019 trade show in Cologne, Germany, in April.