Leatt Corp. hired two key industry professionals, Bastian Dietz and Dain Zaffke, to propel its the company’s growth in the mountain biking (MTB) category.

Dietz is Leatt’s international marketing manager for MTB, focused on growing the company’s presence in the global market, and Zaffke will work on the domestic MTB business as VP of sales and marketing.

Leatt CEO Sean Macdonald remarked, “With these two strategic positions, Leatt is investing in the continued success of its MTB business, which has become a promising growth area for the brand and company. While many of our competitors appear to be pulling back, we see this moment as a great opportunity to strive for a surge in market share in key areas. With their fantastic experience and infectious passion for riding, adding Bastian and Dain to our already powerhouse team will bring a new level of focus to our mountain biking business and allow Leatt to truly level up!”

Based in Munich, Germany, Dietz has worked in the bike industry since 2007 and returns to Leatt after a five-year break. Before joining Leatt, Dietz worked at Rasoulution GmbH Marketing & Kommunikationsagentur, building its public relations department and supporting MTB race series organizers and sporting goods manufacturers. As international marketing manager at ION, a Boards & More Gmbh brand, he helped launch the former watersports-only brand in the global cycling space as director of global business development for SQlab GmbH. Dietz is also credited with helping to build the bike category at the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA MOBILITY) trade show, one of the world’s largest mobility trade fairs.

“I have been following Leatt’s impressive brand and product development very closely,” said Dietz. “Within five years, Leatt’s business growth and MTB brand momentum have been very impressive. I look forward to helping grow the MTB business.”

Based in Santa Cruz, CA, Zaffke will oversee sales and marketing related to Leatt’s MTB business in the U.S. and contribute to the brand’s global. Zaffke has more than two decades of bike industry experience. As a racer, he has competed in cross country, endurance and downhill at an elite level, including gravel and road, and has worked in product development, sales and marketing. Before joining Leatt, Zaffke worked for more than ten years as Giro’s senior director of marketing, and before that, in sales and marketing positions at WTB Partners, LLC (Wilderness Trail Bikes) and Easton Cycling, a brand now owned by Fox Factory Holding Corp., and was a gear editor with Bike magazine.

“I am thrilled to join the Leatt family,” said Zaffke. “Leatt has a powerful mix of innovation and style, plus a clear purpose rooted in an authentic desire to protect and serve riders’ needs. These values align perfectly with my own, and I see a great opportunity to continue growing the Leatt brand.”

Leatt makes protective gear for mountain biking and extreme motorsports and is known for its Leatt-Brace neck brace system.

Photo courtesy Leatt