NOVATO, Calif. (BRAIN) — Marin Mountain Bikes Inc. has announced changes to its sales staff with the addition of industry veterans Art Ornelas and Bob Gagen.

Ornelas' territory reaches from San Luis Obispo, California, south to the San Diego region.

"I am excited to join the Marin team, as I have always admired the brand's consistency and integrity," said Ornelas, who started his career in the industry with GT Bicycles and worked there from 1993-2001, followed by 12 years at Nirve Bicycles. Most recently he was a rep for Endura Sport Technical Apparel.

In addition to Marin, Ornelas represents Alpinestars clothing and Sports One Source.

Gagen has more than 25 years of industry experience, with more than 15 years spent as the owner and general manager of Bicycle Specialties in Downers Grove, Illinois, followed by more than 10 years as an independent rep, covering Illinois and parts of Missouri and Iowa for various brands.

Prior to his start in the industry, Bob was employed by a large aluminum manufacturer.

Gagen said, "It's great to be working with a team that is dedicated to developing and bringing such well-designed and relevant bikes to the market. I'm proud to be involved with a group that is dedicated to working closely with the IBD channel."

Tom Jackson, Marin's regional sales manager, said, "We're fortunate to have such great, proven representation in both Southern California as well as the Heartland. Adding these industry veterans to our roster means that dealers in these markets will be very well served and have the opportunity to take on or expand their lines with critically acclaimed Marin bikes."

Ornelas can be reached at art.ornelas@yahoo.com and Gagen at rmmcinc@msn.com. 

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — The Pro's Closet is working with organizers of the Outerbike demo events to provide bicycle trade-up services to event participants. TPC will be at Outerbike in Moab, Utah, this fall and next spring to help provide valuations for used bike trade-ins, which can be redeemed at the participants' local bike shop toward the purchase of a new bike.

Nick Martin, the founder of The Pro's Closet, said, "The hardest part of buying a new bike is selling your old bike. Consumers at Outerbike are motivated to upgrade their bike, and we hope that having the Trade Up program on site will make it even easier for them to part with their used bike."

Outerbike co-founder Mark Sevenoff said the Trade Up program offers a natural extension of Outerbike's mission. "We wanted to bring the latest bikes to the people that were most interested in buying them, but selling your old stuff is still a difficult process. I've used The Pro's Closet to sell my old bikes for years, and their new Trade Up program is a great way to integrate the existing dealer networks that manufacturers use into the sales process."



The Trade Up Program rolled out to a handful of dealers at the end of last year, and is now extending nationwide. The company said dealers using the program have realized a return of up to four times the value of the traded-in bicycle.

Fall Outerbike will be returning to Moab from September 30 until October 2. Spring Outerbike is scheduled March 31-April 2, 2017. 

Bike shops interested in learning more about the Trade Up program can contact Justin England at Justin@theproscloset.com. Vendors interested in exhibiting at Outerbike should contact Sevenoff at mark@westernspirit.com.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BRAIN) — A group of industry veterans is setting up a high-volume carbon bike factory in Little Rock, using equipment purchased from Montréal's Guru Cycles, which went bankrupt last year. The group, doing business as HIA Velo, also purchased the Cyclart bike painting business, which is being moved to Arkansas. HIA Velo will release its own bike brand next year and expects to manufacture for other brands as well. HIA is an acronym for "Handmade in America."

HIA Velo's owners are Tony Karklins (the founder of Orbea USA), Douglas Zell (a longtime cyclist and founder of Intelligentsia Coffee) and Sam Pickman (an 11-year veteran of Specialized's senior engineering team). The company also has hired Chris Meertens, a former composite parts developer at Specialized, who joins as HIA Velo's senior composites engineer. Olivier Lavigueur, who worked in the Guru composite department for nearly 11 years, joins HIA Velo as its composites production manager. David Woronets, the founder of Zen Fabrication in Portland, Oregon, joins as HIA Velo's metal product and production manager. Zen shut down its OEM production earlier this year.

Karklins is the founder and managing director of HIA Velo. He purchased the Guru assets in February.

"For the last two decades, I have seen bicycle factory after bicycle factory close down and shift their production to Asia," Karklins said. "Now, few bicycle brands actually manufacture the products they sell. Even stranger, most of the composite bikes from nearly every known brand are made in only a handful of factories in Asia. We founded HIA Velo because we feel there is a real competitive advantage in having full control of the entire product development and manufacturing process under one roof, here in the USA. Our goal is to re-shore best-in-class, high-volume composite bicycle production and to create great American-manufactured cycling brands."

Five containers of equipment and machinery were relocated from the Guru factory to HIA Velo's facility in Little Rock. Installation took approximately 90 days.

"Paint was the last piece of the puzzle. We purchased Cyclart from Vista, California, in July and will be relocating them to Little Rock early this fall. Cyclart will handle all production paint for HIA Velo products and continue to offer premium refinishing, restoration and repair services to the industry, including composites repair," Karklins said.

HIA Velo will launch its first brand, Allied Cycle Works, by next spring. Karklins said the company is in discussion with other brands and is pursuing joint venture opportunities in the industry.

The company will release several limited-edition products this fall as production scales up prior to the launch of Allied Cycle Worls.

More information is available at hiavelo.com and alliedcycleworks.com.

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — The dealers association and suppliers association are working with The NPD Group (formerly Leisure Trends) to offer a free market data program to specialty retailers.

"We are committed to helping independent bicycle dealers thrive in today's challenging retail environment, by providing them with the market insights needed to make better buying and merchandising decisions," said Todd Grant, the president of the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Grant said, "We have been working with NPD since 2015 Interbike to create a program specifically for NBDA members. Utilizing the knowledge, experience, and insights of the NBDA's P2 group members, NPD has travelled to meet with as many as 45 of our best retailers to learn firsthand how this information can be used when making buying decisions at product, category and vendor levels, as well as how to improve the bottom line with better inventory management. This is the information that the industry uses for measurements of performance. This gives the IBD unbiased information they need. To continue to improve the accuracy of these reports, we ask that more NBDA members sign up for this free service and reap one of the benefits of NBDA membership."

The program provides retailers with tools to analyze vendor and product model performance across the store's entire assortment to optimize the product mix. It also allows the creation of customized reporting to analyze store performance against industry sales to identify growth opportunities and exit declining categories. 

"It makes perfect sense that our organizations are working together to increase the accuracy and availability of cycling industry sales data," said Adam Micklin, the president of the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. "Suppliers and retailers are experiencing the rapid pace of change in purchasing trends of cyclists. We need to continue striving to be smarter, leaner and more efficient in every step of the process to produce the greatest value to our customers. Collaboration between the BPSA, NBDA and NPD is the right solution to achieve these objectives by leveraging information to make the sales and supply of products more transparent."

More information: NPD Specialty Retail Partner Information & Registration, or contact Todd Poseley at todd.poseley@npd.com

SAVAGE, Minn. (BRAIN) — The team behnd the component brand Wolf Tooth are launching a new bike brand called Otso Cycles. The new brand is introducing a fat bike designed for use on dirt or snow and a drop-bar gravel/road bike.

The Voytek is a carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike for plus and fat tires. It fits 27.5-plus, 29-plus or 26 x 4.6-inch tires. The company said it has the narrowest Q-factor of any production fat-capable bike, making it feel more like a trail bike than a fat bike. It features Otso's patent pending Tuning Chip rear dropout system, which allows the chainstay length to be adjusted from 430 mm to 450 mm (see image below).

"Voytek blurs the line between plus and fat and it will change your perception of what's possible in this class of bike," the company said.

A "Frankset"— frame, fork, crank, chainring, headset and seatpost collar — will retail for $2,299. Complete bike builds start at $3,899. 

The brand's second model is the Warakin drop-bar bike. The company said it can be used for cyclocross, gravel adventure riding or anything in between. It's made with stainless steel tubing and features the brand's Tuning Chip for 20mm in adjustable chainstay length. The frame and fork have thru axles and can accomodate up to 700x42mm tires.

It has braze-ons to accommodate three water bottles, fenders, racks, and frame bags, and will be available in six sizes, from 49 to 60cm. Framesets retail for $1,799. Complete builds start at $3,199 with a Shimano 105 group.

The company is seeking dealers. Interested IBDs can contact Otso at brendan@otsocycles.com for details.

More information: otsocycles.com.

WILTON, Conn. (BRAIN) — Cannondale has agreed to a two-year extension of its sponsorship of the long-running Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com team. As in previous years, Cannondale will also support the program's development team. In addition, Dorel's Sugoi and Fabric divisions will continue as official apparel and saddle sponsors.

"Cannondale and Cyclocrossworld.com have been together longer than any other 'cross team in the US," said Stu Thorne, the team manager. "Working together all these years has been a privilege for me and the team. The support is phenomenal, the new 2017 SuperX is any rider's dream bike and the people at Cannondale are like family. I'm really looking forward to this season and years to come."

This season's team will be comprised of four professional riders: Stephen Hyde, Kaitie Antonneau, Curtis White and Emma White. The developmental team has eight riders.

"Not only does Cannondale's partnership with Cyclocrossworld.com provide us with valued product development input from top-tier, world-class pro athletes, but it helps to us to continue our pledge to help grow the sport of 'cross," said Scott Rittschof, senior vice president of global marketing and product development for Cannondale. "We are thrilled to continue our relationship with a team that brings such an incredible amount of excitement and passion to the sport of cycling."

Other team sponsors include SRAM, Zipp, Challenge, Giro, and Feedback Sports.

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Donna Carpenter, the CEO of Burton Snowboards, will be the featured speaker at the Camber Outdoors' Thought-Leadership Keynote at Interbike.

Camber Outdoors is the new name for the Outdoor Industries Women's Coalition. The organization rebranded earlier this month to better reflect its approach to its work in the outdoor industry while encouraging both women and men to advocate gender equality in the workplace and in the outdoors.

"We are honored to provide a forum for Donna to share with other industry leaders and influencers the Burton story of how a strategic commitment to women's leadership as a business imperative over 10 years ago has led to greater brand relevancy, growth, and sustainability," said Deanne Buck, the executive director of Camber Outdoors. 

The event is on Wednesday, September 21, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Mandalay Bay, South Pacific C/D Ballroom. 

In addition to Carpenter's remarks, the event will also include the presentation of the 2016 Bicycling Industry Pioneering Woman and First Ascent awards. Previous winners of these awards include Sally McCoy, former CEO of CamelBak; Jenn Dice, vice president of Business Network at PeopleForBikes; and Sally Jewell, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Camber Outdoors' Keynote and Awards Presentation is free and open to the public. 

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (BRAIN) — Accell North America held a grand opening party over the weekend to celebrate the opening of its first dedicated Raleigh brand store in the nation. The store on Main Street in Santa Monica isn’t new for Accell North America. But it was formerly an Izip e-bike concept store.

It’s been rebranded, focusing on the Raleigh product line, though it will sell some Izip and Haibike electric bikes.

“We have a lease on the space and wanted to give it a refresh and decided to rebrand it in the process,” Larry Pizzi, senior vice president of Raleigh Bicycles, told BRAIN. “We don’t have good distribution for Raleigh in this market so there’s no dealer conflict.”

“Our primary intent is to use elements from it to do store-in-store POP and share with our dealer base,” he added. 

The store has less than 2,000 feet of showroom, but has an outside area and storage space. It’s set up as a boutique and Pizzi said it will be a test center for engaging consumers with self-help kiosks to fulfill transactions quickly.

“The idea is to test that out and what we hope to be able to do is create a store-in-store environment using elements from the design of the store along with kiosk and a small bike display so we can engage some dealers who maybe never thought about being a Raleigh dealer because they can’t afford a commitment to another brand,” Pizzi said.

Pizzi said Raleigh lacks brand representation in key markets like West Los Angeles because it has been pushed out over the years by the Big Three who demand greater commitments and floor space from dealers. The closest Raleigh stores are in Ventura County and Pasadena, 70 and 30 miles away, respectively.

“This has happened slowly but surely over the last five years or so and it’s just not acceptable not to be able to buy a Raleigh in West L.A.,” he said.

Especially since Pizzi said there’s demand, something the company has become aware of through website traffic and interest from the region. Raleigh began its click-to-brick online sales program in April, and has begun to connect the dots on where demand for bikes is coming from and whether it’s being met.

In the first week that the Izip store was turned into a “fulfiller” it delivered two pairs of Raleigh bicycles from consumers ordering his and hers sets.

The store will carry a broad assortment of Raleigh bikes, but it will be market-specific with some models available for people to buy via kiosk.

Pizzi stressed that ANA doesn’t want to be in the brick-and-mortar business and at the moment doesn’t intend to open Raleigh stores in weak markets. But rather it’s thinking about ways in which a consumer can get a professional assembled bike delivered. “We’re using it to try to develop store-in-store kiosk fulfillment branding elements that we can place into smaller shops or non-traditional bicycle retailers,” Pizzi said. 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (BRAIN) — Mobile bike repair franchiser Velofix has hired Ward Grootjans, a former Canyon Bicycles executive who will focus on Velofix's global growth.

Grootjans, who joins Velofix as vice president of gloabl business development, will be based in the Netherlands. At Canyon, he mainly focused on international business development and sales.

Velofix currently has more than 50 franchises operations in North America. Grootjans will focus on global rollout and on building Velofix D RECT, a direct-to-consumer bicycle delivery and assembly program for bicycle brands.

"The last five years I was part of revolutionizing the bike industry by building a global bike brand that sells direct-to-consumer," said Grootjans. "To be a leading brand in the bike industry it's necessary to be truly customer focused. I learned about Velofix and was impressed by the concept. After meeting the t eam, seeing their professionalism, enthusiasm and personalities, I realized that t hey will change the bike industry. I am happy to bring my experience to their customer-centric revolution."

Velofix co-founder Chris Guillemet said, "Our entire motivation for starting Velofix was to deliver a professional experience that i s completely focused on customer convenience and satisfaction. With his background and experience at the world's leading consumer-direct bike brand, Ward is the perfect person to drive our global expansion and Velofix DIRECT program. We are the leading brand of mobile bike shops and have aggressive growth targets for the coming years; Ward is going to help us exceed those goals and continue our expansion at a fast pace."

Velofix' expansion plans include a total of 150 franchises across North America and launching in Europe in 2017. 

FARMINGTON, Utah (BRAIN) — Vista Outdoor Inc., has promoted Jessica Klodnicki and Greg Shapleigh to new roles within its Outdoor Products segment. Klodnicki, formerly vice president for Bell Helmets, Blackburn and C-Preme, is now the vice president for outdoor recreation, which includes responsibility for the CamelBak and Jimmy Styks brands. CamelBak's current president, Layne Rigney, previously announced his resignation.

Shapleigh, formerly the vice president of Giro, Bollé and Cébé, is now the vice president of sport protection, which includes responsibility for Giro, Bollé, Cébé, Bell Helmets, Bell Powersports, Blackburn, Krash, Raskullz, and Serengeti.

Kelly Grindle, the president of Vista's outdoor products segment, said, "Jessica has done a tremendous job positioning Bell Helmets as a leading brand, and she was the natural choice to lead CamelBak and Jimmy Styks."

Regarding Shapleigh, Grindle said, "Greg brings a legacy of strong leadership to the brands under his responsibility. I am confident this structure will provide additional brand focus, resources and strategic support for today and into the future as we expand and acquire new businesses."

BARCELONA, Spain (BRAIN) — Intense Europe SL, a subsidiary of Intense Cycles USA, has begun serving the German and Austria markets directly from its European headquarters in Barcelona. Intense announced the opening of the European office in July. 

"The company will now be able to service dealers quickly and with very high service levels as the European warehouse stores a significant amount of Intense bikes to supply most of the European countries," Intense stated. "This move allows the Intense sales and service team to be closer the market and provide faster and more high quality service and delivery to the European dealer and consumer."

A sales group from Intense Europe will soon begin visiting dealers in Germany and Austria to show the brand's 2017 line, which includes four news models that have been launched since May.

Dealer inquiries can be directed to Intense Europe's general manager, Lars Hjort, at lars.hjort@intensecycles.com or on his mobile at +45 2631 5000.

PARK CITY, Utah (BRAIN) — POC's 2017 collection includes a new helmet and expanded clothing line aimed at cross-country mountain bike racers.  The collection also includes updates to the Fondo road apparel line and a completely updated series of protective backpacks.

"In designing our new 2017 collection, we have sought to tune into each individual rider's needs," said Stefan Ytterborn, POC's CEO and founder. "With the addition of the Resistance Pro XC apparel and the Octal X helmet, we now have a full range of apparel and helmets with fit, materials and designs specifically for the performance needs of every kind of mountain bike rider, from XC to Enduro and DH riders."

The new Resistance Pro line incorporates durable, protective fabrics and materials into every design. POC introduced Resistance at last year's Interbike with a focus on DH and enduro riders. The Resistance Pro XC line will include jerseys, jackets, zip tee's, bib shorts, gloves, shorts and sleeves. The line provides the aerodynamics, fit and weight appropriate for XC riding while offering safety features in case of a crash.

The Octal X is POC's first helmet designed specifically for the XC rider. It is based on the Octal road helmet, borrowing its ventilation pattern, unibody shell construction and aerodynamic shape. To optimize the helmet for XC riders, POC has added web-like aramid bridges for structural integrity and protection against penetration, and extended the outer shell to cover more of the helmet liner, adding strength with what POC said is minimal weight increase. The Octal X weighs 210 grams.

The new Fondo Gradient road apparel collection celebrates three of the sport's most iconic climbs: the Passo del Stelvio, l'Alpe d'Huez and the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

The redesigned protective backpacks will come in 13 and 8-liter versions with integrated back protectors (certified EN 1621-1) and a twin-strap retention system across the chest.

POC will present the new products at Eurobike next week and at Interbike next month.

MINNEAPOLIS (BRAIN) — Kinetic has released the next generation of its Kinetic Fit training app.

The new app features professionally designed training plans, hundreds of customized workouts, video streaming and accurate real-time data.

"Kinetic Fit provides the most accurate training data that you can use, track and share, as well as personalized power-training plans designed by professional coaches that deliver more efficient, effective workouts," the company said.

The app connects to a range of Kinetic Smart power trainers, and is also fully compatible with many other trainers and power meters that use Bluetooth Smart technology. The app is available for Apple and Android devices.

Kinetic Fit's new video integration allows subscribers to view video on their device while training, as well as mirror it to a second screen wirelessly via Apple TV, Google Chromecast or an HDMI cable. A new YouTube streaming function enables app subscribers to watch preselected playlists of individual videos during a workout.

App subscribers can also stream movies stored on their device or view movies in personal Dropbox accounts to augment their training.

"Our number one goal with the Kinetic Fit app is to help you improve as a cyclist and power training is the most effective way to accomplish this," said David Simpson, Kinetic's marketing manager. "Whether you are new or experienced, time-crunched or training like a pro, Kinetic Fit will keep you motivated and progressing with a personalized, data-driven plan and great workouts. Adding customizable video not only increases training-session options, but makes your time in the saddle more enjoyable."

The Kinetic Fit app is available now for free download at both the Apple and Android App stores, with riders able to choose from three subscription tiers: a free Core subscription with access to select data and power training features; a Smart subscription ($10/month or $70 annual) that includes over 200 personalized workouts, 28 training
plans, data sharing and full video integration; or for an additional $10/month, riders can stream the entire Sufferfest video training series with either Core or Smart.

Any purchase of a new Kinetic Smart Control trainer includes a free six-month Smart subscription to Kinetic Fit. Kinetic also offers a free one-month trial of the Smart subscription on all new Kinetic Smart trainer or inRide sensor accessory purchases.

More information at kinetic.fit and kurtkinetic.com.

CINCINNATI (BRAIN) — QBP is now distributing Infinit Nutrition's retail products, incliding its all-in-one isotonic drink mixes. 

The company, in business since 2004, also continues to sell its retail line dealer direct; its customized mix products and retail products also are available direct to consumers via the Infinit website. 

The company said QBP is stocking all Infinit Nutrition products from Pre-workout to Recovery and everything in between.

"It's an honor to be working with QBP. With all of the market changes in the past few years, it's amazing for Infinit to be recognized as one of the nutrition companies that will shape the future of endurance sports nutrition," said Michael Folan, the president and CEO Infinit Nutrition.

TEMPE, Ariz. (BRAIN) — Pivot Cycles has hired Michael Golinski, the founder of Spot Brand and former general manager of Planet X USA, to head up Pivot's international operations.

Golinski brings more than 20 years of industry knowledge, with experience running companies in Canada and the U.S. as well as extensive European experience having worked the past four years for a UK company and lived and worked the past two years in the UK. Golinski's experience spans inventory and supply chain, to product and brand management, Pivot said.

Chris Cocalis, Pivot's president and CEO, said, "Michael is a great addition to the Pivot family. With his extensive European contacts, supply chain knowledge and high level management experience, we are very excited about the skills and expertise that Michael brings to our team as well as the future growth potential of Pivot's new European operation."

Pivot said it has been growing rapidly in Europe and to support the demand and growth within the European Union and surrounding markets, Pivot is establishing its own company based in Germany. The company said the German office will allow much quicker lead times to get product to distributors and dealers within the EU and surrounding countries as well as improved customer service and support operations working within the same time zone as those customers.

Golinksi said, "I have followed Chris and the progression of Pivot for a long time and have always admired the brand and the product. Being here just reinforces that this is a great company making cutting edge, market leading products and I am very excited to be leading up the further international growth and expansion of the brand from the supply chain, inventory and final delivery side of things not just in Europe but eventually other strategic markets as well."

TEMPE, Ariz. (BRAIN) — State Bicycle Co. has opened a new concept store, State Rideshop. The full-service bike, skateboard and repair shop is located in the company's hometown of Tempe, Arizona, outside of Phoenix.

State Rideshop will sell custom skateboards and bicycles along with beach cruisers, long boards and apparel. The shop also offers a "BYOB: Build Your Own Bike or Board" package allowing consumers to mix-and-match more than 10 different colors, patterns, and styles to create custom bicycles and short boards.

In addition to State Bicycle Co. bikes, the shop also carries such brands as Huntington Beach Bicycle Company cruisers, Arbor Collective, Landyacthz, State48 and Oakley.

"The wide variety of State Rideshop's products offer a commuting and lifestyle solution for everyone," said Mehdi Farsi, co-founder of State Rideshop. "From on-campus commuting to long-distance commuting and products for more experienced riders, State Rideshop's team helps shoppers build and find the right product for them, which previously didn't exist in the marketplace."

For more information about State Rideshop, call 602-253-4653 or visit Facebook.com/staterideshop or @staterideshop on Instagram.

ZWOLLE, Netherlands (BRAIN) — NuVinci Cycling, a division of Fallbrook Technologies Inc. has hired Anne Guethoff as its new director of marketing.

Most recently, Guethoff was the global marketing & sales director in Germany for Brose Antriebstechnik, a manufacturer and supplier of e-bike motors. Prior to that, she worked for corporations including Johnson & Johnson and Essilor. She has also built a marketing and sales consultancy in Sydney, Australia, supporting international clients, especially in the bicycle and SAAS market, with both strategy and execution services.

Guethoff said, "NuVinci Cycling has entered into the market very successfully. I am excited about bringing my skill set and experience during this next phase of growth. We are looking to continue our success in the e-bike market, but also to expand our activities to the non-e-bike and sportive segments. This means NuVinci Optimized products will become relevant to more riders going forward."

Guethoff will report to David Hancock, Fallbrook's executive vice president for NuVinci Cycling. Hancock said, "I am excited to have Anne join our team as director of marketing. Her expertise and experience in sales and marketing, within and outside of the cycling industry, is exactly what we need. I look forward to Anne's leadership to help us continue our growth and expand NuVinci Optimized products into new segments." 

SINGEN, Germany (BRAIN) — Ritchey International has opened a new logistics operation, Multisped GmbH, in Singen, Germany, and has started a dealer-direct sales of its complete bikes and frames in Europe.

"The opening of our own facility in Europe will allow Ritchey to reach more retailers and broaden our availability of products. The complete bikes are a great addition to our range, and continue the strong heritage that Ritchey has always had for high-quality steel frames. With a strengthened sales force, a completely revised marketing approach, and much closer involvement with the press, we are able to work with the best dealers to have Ritchey bikes and components represented to their fullest," said Riccardo Deliziosi, Ritchey's director of sales. 

Ritchey said it has reinforced its partnership with its three larger European distributors that the brand has worked with for many years: Cosmic Sports GmbH in Germany, Paligap Ltd. in the U.K., and Tehava BV in the Netherlands. These distributors will continue to offer Ritchey components and accessories to retailers all over Europe.

"At Ritchey we really appreciate the professionalism and top-level service offered by these distributors to their customers, and we are happy to be able to continue this strong and benefcial relationship," said Deliziosi. Ritchey will also continue to collaborate with the regional distributors that have been working with the company in the past years: A.M.G. S.p.A. in Italy, Castanheira & Castanheira Lda in Portugal, Comercial Pous in Spain, Gyro Sarl in France, KTM Fahrrad GmbH in Austria, Pulzar d.o.o. in Slovenia, and Vokolek Import spol.s.r.o. in the Czech Republic.

For more information on the new dealer-direct program, EU retailers can contact the Ritchey sales area managers: Simon Beatson (sbeatson@ritcheylogic.com) for the U.K. and Ireland; Enrico Grassi (egrassi@ritcheylogic.com) for Italy, France, Spain and Greece; and Njegoslav Terzic (nterzic@ritcheylogic.com) for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Scandinavia and Eastern countries. 

VENICE, Italy (BRAIN) — Shred Optics and Slytech Protection have announced a new Italian distributor for the mountain bike market, DSB Bonandrini.

"We are so happy to have found such a passionate, core and strong distribution partner," said Carlo Salmini, the co-founder and CEO of Anomaly Action Sports, the parent company of Shred and Slytech.  "Partnerships like we have begun with DSB and owner/CEO Davide Bonandrini, are exactly what we look for in order to bring the technology and innovation of Shred and Slytech brands to a leading position in the international bike market."

Anomaly co-founder and chairman Ted Ligety said, "DSB will bring our brands to the next level in Italy as we continue to actively search innovative and committed distribution partners across the globe."

Bonandrini said, "We couldn't be happier to be able to add Shred and Slytech to our portfolio of brands. The technology is incredible and on point, and the team has such a young, passionate and unconventional approach. I see incredible growth potential and I look forward to this incredible opportunity." 

DSB Bonandrini distributes brands including Santa Cruz, Rocky Mountain, Race Face and Hope in Italy. More information: dsb-bonandrini.com.

NAMPA, Idaho (BRAIN) — Deity has hired Sean "Griz" McClendon as the brand's North American sales and grass-roots team manager.

McClendon has background as a professional rider and headed the bike division for Maxima Lubricants before resigning from that company at the end of July. 

With a focus on evolving the Deity Grassroots Team Program, McClendon will also be mentoring a list of up-and-coming talent in the downhill, enduro and dirt jump disciplines, the company said.

"We've had a longtime relationship with Griz for ages, and we have closely watched as he consistently pushed himself out of his comfort zone in this industry and always did it with a high level of energy, focus and preparation. Without a doubt, he will be a key part of Deity moving forward and we are excited to welcome him to our elite family," said Deity's owner, Eric Davies.

"I am excited to jump in the trenches with Deity's IBD network and amazing roster of Grassroots riders. Nearly everyone in this industry wishes they could work for Deity and I am beyond honored to be here to propel the company to the next level," McClendon said.