SOLANA BEACH – Creating a new version of a well-established product can be a slippery business, but Gear Hugger is finding growing success with its take on lubricants.
The company’s line of plant-based products are now found in national retailers, and CEO and founder Checo Diaz said sales increased 500% from 2022 to 2023.
CEO
Gear Hugger
Once available only online and in a few San Diego stores, Gear Hugger products can be found in Lowe’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, True Value Hardware, REI, HomeDepot.com and, as of June, Target. Its product line includes a multi-use lubricant, degreaser, dry bike lubricant and rust-remover.
While Gear Hugger’s multi-use lubricant cost about 20% more than similar products, Diaz said it has three times the lubricating power than petroleum-based competitors, which is demonstrated by a video of a friction test on the company’s website.
Better for Planet
Diaz was a competitive cyclist living in Mexico City when the seeds for the company were sown.
As he put a petroleum-based lubricant on his bike’s gears before a race, he saw drops falling on the grass below and had an uneasy feeling.
“It’s toxic,” he recalled thinking. “This is all going to the ground. I saw this disconnect between my love of nature and the amount of toxic chemicals that we’re putting out there.”
Diaz said he thought of how many other products had become plant-based or more sustainable, and he wondered why there was no environmentally safe alternative to lubricants.
He also realized, however, that consumers needing bicycle and machine lubricants were not going to sacrifice performance to be more environmentally friendly, so any attempt at creating such a product would have to have a high standard.
That was not a deal-breaker, however. Diaz’ father worked for a lubricant company in Mexico and had the know-how and connections to make his vision a reality, and the two set out to formulate a product that was plant-based and also high-performing.
Diaz also recruited botanists to help, and they developed a lubricant using soy, cacao butter and canola oil for a lubricant.
For the degreaser, ingredients include the natural solvent found in agave leaves. The leaves are upcycled from tequila makers who otherwise would discard them because production of the spirit requires only the pineapple, or center core of the agave plant.
Moving and Marketing
After a few years of research and development, Diaz had created a product that was environmentally safe and effective.
But then came another challenge. Diaz said he did not believe Mexico was the right place to launch a plant-based lubricant.
“The Mexico mindset was not ready for this eco-movement,” he said. “So we set out to find that place in the United States.”
Diaz discovered the Solana Beach-based branding company Purely Righteous Brands LLC, whose motto is “Advisory for the greater good”.
“We just had the product,” he said. “We didn’t have a brand. We didn’t have a name or anything.”
Working during the pandemic, Purely Righteous helped the company develop its name, look and packaging. They then offered to help bring the product to market, and Diaz moved north and joined them on Cedros Avenue in Solana Beach.
In 2021, Gear Hugger won the San Diego Natural Pitch Slam event, and a year later it took the national prize.
Gear Hugger was first available through Amazon and the company’s website, but Diaz said he realized the product is something people don’t tend to buy in advance, but rather when they immediately need it, so he sought a brick-and-mortar outlet.
Jimbo’s and Seaside Market in Encinitas were the first local retailers to carry Gear Hugger. Diaz said he worked two years to get his product in Target, and he expects to announce another national retailer in 2025.
“We’re ramping up this year, and we’re very excited that we feel like next year is going to be the one that actually makes it a nationally known brand,” he said.
Gear Hugger also will release two new products, a car wash and a bike wash made with environmentally safe products, by the end of the year.
Gear Hugger
FOUNDED: 2020
CEO: Checo Diaz
HEADQUARTERS: Solana Beach
BUSINESS: Lubricants
FUNDING: Undisclosed
EMPLOYEES: 10
WEBSITE: https://www.gear-hugger.com
NOTABLE: Gear Hugger won the San Diego Natural Pitch Slam event in 2021 and the national event in 2022.
