Signa Sports United (SSU), the German-based sports e-commerce platform that owns several websites for the sale of bicycles, has entered a strategic partnership with Motesque, a specialist startup for biomechanics, computer vision and AI, to launch what they claim will be the first biomechanical AI-based virtual bike fitting engine for online bike shopping. Motesque, which has offices in Cologne, Germany and Brooklyn, New York, has developed a “recommendation technology” that uses data from body movements and proportions. Besides SSU, companies such as Asics and Ottobock, a German specialist for prostheses and orthoses, already rely on the company’s technologies. The planned virtual bike fitting engine will generate personalized 3D avatars of the customer based on scientific metrics, allowing customized bike sizing and fitting recommendations. The aim is to further close the gap between offline and online shopping, complementing SSU’s guided-selling experience while reducing the return rate of full bikes. SSU’s online stores for bicycles are Wiggle, Chain Reaction Cycles, Fahrrad.de, Bikester and Probikeshop.
