FEATURE


PHOTO BY BOHDAN KADUN ON UNSPLASH


“SECRET SAUCE” CONUNDRUM: PART ONE I


by Dominic Loh and Adam Townsend


n part one of their secret sauce conundrum, Funn’s Dominic Loh and owner of Bike Matrix, Adam


Townsend, explore the issues with too many standards, what this means for the industry. Part one considers why now is the time to work together to streamline and make things less confusing for all involved. We’ve all heard the phrase, especially in the culinary world, about a dish’s “secret sauce” being the key to its irresistible flavour. A signature dish made with that secret sauce is what brings people back, gets them talking and builds a reputation for the ‘chef’. Of course, the secret wouldn’t be a secret if it was easy to figure out, and


24 | July 2025


the signature dish would have no reputation if the recipe was the same as everyone else’s. So the chef guards the recipe and the secret to the sauce to protect their reputation and keep the devotees coming back to them. But what happens when that secret recipe is lost, or the right ingredients become impossible to find, or the Chef stops making the signature dish? The magic is gone, and the ability to consistently recreate that special something is lost. In the bicycle industry, we face a similar “secret sauce” conundrum, though ours isn’t about flavour; it’s about new ‘standards’. These innovations are meant to push the boundaries of design and performance, and are intended to corner a


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