PEEKSKILL, N.Y. — On a scorching summer day in upstate New York, representatives from G-Form and Trek Bikes peddled up and down steep rock-laced trails to show how G-Form’s new line of knee and elbow pads can be used in different kinds of extreme conditions.
G-Form, which makes a line of protective gear that is soft but hardens upon impact so that athletes can wear it comfortably under their clothes, was formed in 2010 as a company dedicated to the mountain biking community.
Since then, it has expanded its fleet of sponsored athletes, two of whom — Colton Walker (for BMX Dirt) and Kevin Peraza (BMX Park) — secured podiums wins at this year’s X-Games.
Congrats to G-Form Athletes Colton Walker and Kevin Peraza on their X-Games wins! Click to see their winning runs. https://t.co/mXKSXiltAH
— G-Form (@gform) July 31, 2017
In June, it launched a new line of “Elite” elbow and knee protective pads for downhill mountain bikers and motorsports that are CE 1621 certified and can withstand impact up to 60 miles per hour.
Now, the company is looking to expand beyond action sports by developing specialized lines for professional team sports, with a particular focus on soccer and baseball.
Earlier this year, G-Form inked a three-year deal to become the “official protection partner” of the Boston Red Sox, which became a conduit for which the company could release a new line of baseball protective gear.
The Red Sox are pleased to announce @Gform as Official Protective Equipment Partner. https://t.co/Ru5T8wNOvQ #gform #gformbaseball pic.twitter.com/K5tvdqzLBR
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 12, 2017
The line currently includes sliding shorts to protect the upper thigh and a sternum protector. G-Form’s Global Marketing Manager for Team Sports, Nick Surface, said the company is looking to expand the line to potentially include batting gloves, which would protect the bones on the top of the hand, within the year.
The company also makes a line of shin guards and other gear for soccer and has sponsored a number of footballers in Europe, including VfB Stuttgart midfielder and club captain Christian Gentner, though it has yet to ink a formal deal with any professional football teams.
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G-Form will stop short of expanding into too many professional sports too quickly, though, at least right now, according to Surface. While American football and basketball seem like obvious fits for this kind of gear, Surface said they have “high barriers to entry.”
It instead wants to focus on team sports where it can scale, which it can do by creating lines of products, rather than just one-off pads here or there.
“We’re all fans of various sports but want to look where we can improve what’s already there,” he said. “We want to look at places where there’s a real opportunity.”
G-Form’s pads utilize proprietary RPT technology, which prompts the pads’ molecules to soften and stiffen when triggered by an impact. When an athlete falls of a mountain bike or is slammed with a baseball pitch, for example, the molecules would bind together instantly to absorb and redistribute the energy.
While other soft pads that also expand and contract upon impact exist, G-Form says its products are different because they have grooves in between each pad and built-in articulation, which make them more flexible and comfortable for the user. They’re also waterproof and machine washable.