• After a break in his main activity linked to Covid-19, David Magrini decided to start producing belts, made from bicycle tires.

  • Self-taught, he makes the products on his own and pays particular attention to making a quality fashion accessory.

  • The belts are sold between 25 and 35 euros.

    The goal of the craftsman is not to make money but to prevent this waste from being thrown in the trash.

“Currently, there is no recycling channel for bicycle tires in France.

The solution remains to throw them in the black trash ", indicated in 2019 Wiklou," the wiki of the biclou ".

But David Magrini, creator of Beltfrombike, adds: “the other solution is to make a belt!

".

This “lifelong” cyclist, who lives in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, near Nice, in the Alpes-Maritimes, does between “5,000 and 6,000 km” of road cycling per year.

“It was by dint of changing my tires that I had the idea to do something to avoid throwing them away,” he says.

Saddler by training and currently in the hotel industry, the 33-year-old Frenchman had "never had time to make this project a reality" before ... The confinement and the shutdown of his main activity.

“I had nothing to do so I went ahead and thought I was going to do it right,” he recalls.

I learned on my own by taking an old belt and seeing how it was made.

I had the basics of my initial training but at the beginning, I fumbled.

He smirked as he thought of the times he was cutting tires with scissors.

The Roquebrunois is now equipped with an adapted machine.

Unique models so that "it does not end in the trash"

Attached to having a quality object, he himself selects "beautiful curls" in a shop in Nice. "Now that I have the right tools, I take a good half an hour to make a belt," estimates the craftsman. After a year, I think I have found my style to make a nice product. As the tires are often black, I try to play with the brand for example. He is aware that there are other entrepreneurs in the market but he has “his touch”, he does “this job in his own way”.

“It's a passion for me. I put on the personal side by promoting the memory of a particular event, such as a competition or a bicycle trip, that one carries in oneself but which can also be carried on oneself. »Customers send him their tires or relatives order a product spotted on his site as a gift. Otherwise, it is bike shops that put aside what they collect. In all cases, "these are unique models".

Even if David cannot make it his main activity, “because it takes time and resources”, he is satisfied with his “small production”.

“The belts are sold between 25 and 35 euros.

The objective is not to make me money but to avoid that this waste is thrown in the trash.

I am happy to be able to give them a second life, ”he summarizes.

And its desire to recycle goes further.

When he has bits of tires left after the belt, he makes key chains out of them.

“I also started to make bracelets with chain links”.

Apparently, the enthusiast keeps under the pedal.

Lille

Belts made from tires from Paris-Roubaix and Tour de France bikes

Nice

Cycling, work, sleep… These local initiatives are developing their activity thanks to soft mobility

  • Environment

  • Recycling

  • Planet

  • Nice

  • Bike