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BikeBiz speaks to Upgrade’s Rory Hitchens about the growing brand…
Lezyne has established itself in a relatively short space of time – is that fair to say?
2012 will be Lezyne’s fifth year. There is a huge amount of drive and passion in the brand with a clear directive to be the best in category. Lezyne’s success has been rapid because the products physically work so well and have a great sense of style. It has a reputation as an affordable premium brand.
What are the latest releases?
Key introductions in 2011 include the Dirt Drive range, offering twice the volume of floor drive pumps for fast inflation of MTB tyres up to 70 psi. These pumps are perfect for fitting tubeless tyres at fast, high volumes for blowing the tyre to seal on the rim. Also new was the Travel Floor Drive, a compact unit with smaller base and shorter barrel, but no loss in performance.
The CFH pump range (CO2 Flex Hose) has the ‘Flex Hose’ as standard, a braided hose that doubles as a piercing devise for the CO2 canister supplied with the pump on a handy bottle cage bracket. The rider can quickly inflate a tyre with the CO2, but have the peace of mind of a quality pump at the same time. The pumps look stylish too. Lezyne’s multi-tool range was bolstered with the Rap20, offering exceptional value for a quality 20 piece tool at £21.99.
Are any lines big sellers in particular?
Big sellers in the mini pumps are the high pressure pumps ‘Pressure Drive’ and ‘Road Drive’. The multi-tool range sell wells, but ‘Rap13’ and ‘Stainless12’ do big numbers, for sure. For floor pumps it’s the ‘Steel Floor Drive’ that does best, a quality metal floor pump that comes at a price of plastic pumps. In soft goods the ‘Medium Caddy’ seat pack does very well as does the ‘Firebreak’ hydration backpack.
How’s business?
Lezyne business is booming. More dealers are coming on board each month. We offer great margins and low cost re-stocking programmes. There are POS support items available that really help set the brand out. Dealers that display the range of Lezyne in-store as a brand with all products grouped, are showing the strongest growth.
Each year there are more customers with high-end bikes looking for appropriately designed and presented accessories. Lezyne stands out from the crowd, attracting those after quality and reliability.
How important is sponsoring athletes for brand’s visibility?
Lezyne certainly like to be seen with high level athletes. HTC-Highroad is the key sponsorship at the highest level with the world’s most successful road team. The pro Tour of California that just ended was a great showing for the team, winning the last stage, and the Lezyne logo can clearly be seen on the side/back and the lower front of the riders jerseys. As the Tour de France draws closer this will be a boost for the credibility of Lezyne over all other accessory brands. A special limited edition HTC-Highroad Porta-Shop tool kit has been launched.
On top of HTC-Highroad, Lezyne sponsors a number of high profile MTB athletes and teams:
Wade Simmons (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) – godfather of freeride and MTB hall of fame inductee
Maxxis-Rocky Mountain bike team – Geoff Kabush (XC/CX); Sabrina Jonnier (DH); Chris Sheppard 9CX); Marie-Helene Premont (XC)
Cedric Gracia – legend of downhill and 4X racing. Ambassador for Lezyne since 2009.
Bart Brentjens (Trek-Brentjens MTB racing) – 90’s MTB XC legend and man behind this strong XC team
On a UK level, Upgrade is happy to hear from any riders/teams that can offer good regional or national exposure for the Lezyne brand. Matt Page (Wiggle) is sponsored by Upgrade with Lezyne parts that helped him gain his recent 24hrs Solo National and European open men’s title.
Telephone: 01403 711 611
Web: www.upgradebikes.co.uk
