Wind-Blox Business Practices

Wind-Blox (E&M Enterprises, LLC) makes a "wind and noise blocker" product that attaches to the leading straps on a cycling helmet and, as the name suggests, the product 'blocks wind'.  Introduced a year after Cat-Ears, Wind-Blox has made a number of questionable claims and / or representations.  Examples are documented below: 

Fabricated Claim

​

Wind-Blox claims to have received the 'Most Effective Wind Noise Reduction' award. 

While this claim sounds impressive, there is no such award.

Fictitious Comments

​

Wind-Blox uses fictitious names on cycling forums to promote their products (or discredit others).  Below is one of many examples.  When caught, moderators closed accounts, etc.  On more than one occasion, IP address searches (by the moderators) validated the source of the forum comments.

We appreciated being contacted by the forum moderators regarding these comments.

After getting caught, W~B may have stopped these fictitious comments.

Fake Twitter Followers

​​

Wind-Blox 'acquired' over 11,000 'fake' Twitter followers (per audit report).

After getting caught, it appears Twitter deleted >8,000 fake W~B followers.

Family / Employee Reviews

​

Numerous friends / family / employee product reviews.  Examples are below:

"Heard the sweetest little birds chirping on my ride to work today. Thanks Wind-Blox!" - (relative)

​

"Works great, not 'furry' and easy to install. Terrific, look high tech (not furry). Work fine. Don't have to remove straps." -  Ted Finch (VP of Marketing)

​

"Amazing how much more I can hear while biking. Wind-Blox work amazingly well! I'm stunned at what a difference it makes to ride using this product. I can hear SO much more." - Fajen (relative)

​

"I tried these and noticed a difference right away. As the instructions mention, the noise reduction is not appreciated until one takes the wind blox off. My husband also tried them, and he liked them so much he had me order some for him..." - (Adventure Cycling reviewer identified as Wind Blox)

Amazon prohibits family / employee reviews.  These reviews were removed.

Paid Product 'Endorsements'

​

 Wind-Blox: "The Hearing Health Foundation chose Wind-Blox and featured us as an 'Editor's Choice'."

According to the HH Foundation, the claimed 'endorsement' was actually a paid advertisement.

"Thank you for bringing this advertisement to our attention. We will reach out to Wind-Blox to ask that they remove or amend their wording as it is misleading." - Hearing Health Foundation

The HHF apparently contacted W~B.  The 'misleading' wording was amended.

Assorted Patent / Patent Pending Claims

​

Wind-Blox has made a number of U.S. Patent related claims:

​

"Wind-Blox patented technology is wind-tunnel tested." >technology< 

"Unlike similar wind noise reduction products, the Wind-Blox Pro features a

patented 'rim-to-clip' design - that makes it simple to fasten to bike helmets."

"The patent and trademark are in place." - Kickstarter Campaign Intro. (2013)

​

"We've actually filed for two different patents (a Design patent and a Utility patent)." 

​

The Wind~Blox Patent: 'Ornamental design for a wind and noise blocker'. (2015)

Possible 'patent claim issues' have been documented for additional consideration.

While Patent related claims sound impressive, they should be USPTO compliant.

Wind-Blox Are 'Made In America'... Or Are They?

​

It appears that this "Made in America" Facebook post was intended to be misleading.

If you purchased Wind~Blox, you may have noticed a lack of 'Country of Origin' marking.

Country of Origin marking / claims should be CBP compliant.  This post was deleted.

Wind-Blox Claimed To Use 'Bi-directional Velcro'

​

Unfortunately, Velcro® does not make a 'bi-directional' hook and loop product.

Velcro® aggressively protects its brand name and highest quality product reputation.

Velcro® USA contacted Wind~Blox.  Claims regarding the use of Velcro® were removed.

Problematic Aeroacoustic Wind Tunnel Testing Claims

​

Wind-Blox claims to have performed some semblance of wind tunnel testing.

W-B: "Wind-Blox patented technology is wind-tunnel tested... blocking more than 80% of wind noise" 

"Wind tunnel tests were conducted at George Fox University’s (GFU) School of Mechanical Engineering"

​

The fan noise generated by the small GFU Flotek Wind Tunnel is excessive for aero-acoustic testing.

• Performing aeroacoustic analysis in a test chamber with 85 dB of fan / flow noise would be difficult.  

• The 1' x 1' test section (fixed walls) is small.  It would barely fit a test head / helmet (blockage effect).

• Open-jet wind tunnels are typically used for aero-acoustic testing since fixed walls can reflect sound. ​

• Accurate 'fluid flow imagery' observations would be difficult due to the restricted flow displacement. 

• An understanding of aero-acoustic noise is absolutely critical for interpreting any fluid flow imagery.

While wind tunnel testing sounds impressive, the W~B claims / conclusions are problematic.

Wind~Blox claims to be "The #1 Most Effective Wind Noise Blocker"

​

And more specifically, they have claimed to "stop 80.2% (25.2 dB) of bicycling wind noise".

(*Anyone who has measured wind noise knows that tenth of a percent accuracy is nonsense)

An impressive claim that should be supported by independent testing / comparative analysis.

​

Given the questionable claims / representations, Wind-Blox risks disappointing their customers and damaging others in the cycling wind noise reduction industry.

​