Motorcycling inventor faces the Dragons

A MOTORCYCLING entrepreneur will face Dragons’ Den tycoons with his bike maintenance inventions in an episode to be aired this weekend.

Chris Frappell, 26, is the founder of Tru-Tension, maker of new motorcycle tools including the Chain Monkey.

The device is designed to allow the amount of slack in the drive chain to be precisely set according to the bike maker’s recommendation. Tru-Tension makes a range of cleaning products and tools but it’s the £24.99 Chain Monkey that first caught the BBC production team’s eye, according to Frappell.

A BBC teaser for Sunday’s episode reveals the inventor could be in luck as one of the Dragons – who include Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden – is a ‘secret motorbike enthusiast’.

Frappell said we’d have to watch to see how his pitch for investment went.  

He said: “As much as my friends, clients and customers keep begging me to tell them the result, I’m not allowed to say anything, so they’ll have to wait and see if we can pop the champagne or not.”

The Inventor from Nailsea near Bristol was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis aged four and has overcome regular ill-health.

He said: “I don’t let it stop me, I’ve always wanted to grow a business. It motivates me more than anything, and I love the buzz I get from it every day. I hope my story inspires others with difficulties like mine.”

He set up Tru-Tension in 2015 after graduating from Coventry University with a first-class honours degree in motorsport engineering.

Dragons’ Den is to be aired at 9pm this Sunday on BBC Two. The BBC’s teaser said: ‘A bike enthusiast is looking for investment in his chain-tensioning products for motorcycles. Will it be a successful ride to a deal when it turns out there is a secret motorbike enthusiast amongst the Dragons?’

We can hardly bear the tension.