PARKERSBURG —Five months after launching an ATV product review Web site, a trio of Parkersburg men are attracting some attention.
In October 2007, a small group of friends — all ATV enthusiasts — came up with the idea to create a product review Web site for ATVs.
The idea sprang to life after some bad luck with poor equipment.
“When you start buying parts, tires, wheels, skid plates some of the products we were buying were inferior,” said Justin Lowers. “We thought it would be a good idea to give people out there wanting to spend money a non-biased review.
“If you buy a set of tires, you want a set that is going to do what it’s advertised to do.”
ATVtorture.com was born.
The site is devoted to the test and review of “after-market” ATV parts, such as tires, air cleaners, GPS systems, air boxes and skid plates. Lowers and friends Shawn Lauderman, Gary Bradley and Nick Stewart all field test products and post the reviews, complete with photos and video, on the Web site. The ATV Torture crew does it all in its spare time.
The group also has several videos of their rides posted on YouTube.com.
The Web site has a forum where fellow enthusiasts can discuss products. Bradley, who is primarily responsible for the Web site, said they are trying add more ATV news and information.
“Basically, we are providing a product review Web site mainly composed of private reviews,” he said. “Everything we are doing on this site is trying to be positive to the ATV community.”
Lowers said the field tests are nothing to scoff at. The riders usually plan a weekend trip for field tests. On a typical day the ATVers log anywhere from 100 to 125 miles. Lowers said the Torture review crew does most of its riding in southern West Virginia. They prefer the Hatfield and McCoy system. Their last ride was on the Coal Run trail system, near Cross Lanes.
Each rider will have one or two of the new products installed on his machine to field test.
“We install them on our quads and go out and beat them to death,” Lowers said.
Bradley said when the site was first launched, the group made cold calls to companies fishing for products.
“We told them who we were, what we planned to do and basically asked them if we could review some of their products.”
Lowers said it wasn’t long before companies were contacting them to inquire about potential product reviews. Because of the number of inquiries the group is receiving, Bradley said they are looking to expand the review crew. They recently added local Jerry Barnes to the fold.
“There are a lot of riders,” Bradley said, “but it is tough to find die-hard enthusiasts.”
In addition to the Wood County gang, ATV Torture has three additional equipment critics, one in Massachusetts, one in Georgia and another in Iowa. Lowers said the ability to add reviewers from all over the country can only add to the site’s credibility.
“The riding terrain we have here isn’t the same as it is up north or in Virginia or Utah,” he said. “We are getting bigger and getting people to review more products.”
By JODY MURPHY
