Brand behind Visma-Lease a Bike's adjustable tyre pressure system declared bankrupt

Gravaa, the Dutch company behind Visma-Lease a Bike's tyre pressure adjustment system, has been declared bankrupt.

According to court records in the Netherlands, liquidators have been appointed to the brand. Gravaa pioneered the KAPS system, which allowed riders to inflate or deflate their tyres on the go.

The system was used on board Visma-Lease a Bike's bikes at Paris-Roubaix in recent years, as well as the UCI Gravel World Championships, where Marianne Vos used it on her way to victory in 2024. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot rode a bike using Gravaa to the win at Roubaix last year.

It first appeared in 2021, but it appears that it never reached commercial success.

The Gravaa works by housing a tiny compressor inside the wheel hub. Pressure build-up is then fed into the tyres via an electronically controlled Presta valve, which allows riders to deflate and inflate tyres while riding along. It's controlled by buttons on the handlebars, and could be paired with a bike computer to display live pressure information.

The idea, then, is that a rider could deflate their tyres for a section of gravel or cobbles, and then reflate them for tarmac.

It uses a kinetic compressor system that uses the rotation of the wheel to pressurize air from the surroundings. Speaking to Cycling Weekly in 2024, Gertjan van Ginderen, the founder of Gravaa said "The rate of inflation is proportional to distance travelled. When running a 42mm tyre, the air pressure can be increased by around 0.8 bar (11.5 PSI) per kilometer."

In an email this week, John Zopfi, the firm's commerical director, wrote: "To reach volume, we needed to scale up. To scale up, we needed capital and firm commitments from potential volume customers. That combination never fully came together, and without fresh funding, there was unfortunately no other viable option."

Apparently, use with tubeless tyres and the pricing were stumbling blocks for the brand's future. There is still some hope for the future, as the tech could be bought by another brand.

Zopfi said: "A curator has been appointed and will assess whether parts of the company, technology, or brand may continue under new ownership."