Veltec Sports will become the exclusive North American distributor for Colnago bikes and framesets, effective December 23rd. This arrangement comes after the end of an eight year partnership between Colnage and its previous distributor Trialtir.
“For years, reader surveys in leading consumer publications have listed Colnago as the #1 brand of high-end bikes,” said Veltec Managing Director Josh Greenberg. “And the company is known for its craftsmanship and its racing heritage”.
“Even more interesting from a business standpoint, consumers “intend to buy” rating for Colnago is more than triple the current purchases in terms of market share. The challenges come in distribution and in creating price points that can put Colnago bikes into the hands of more cyclists. Colnago has recently started offering a strong line of complete bikes that address the affordability piece of the equation. Veltec will work on the marketing and distribution. Combined, this will create a unique value proposition for the dealers”.
“Veltec offers us the market knowledge, marketing and distribution expertise and financial strength that we need to grow the brand in the USA and Canada” says company founder and owner Ernesto Colnago. “Veltec has the sales and marketing expertise, the rep and dealer network, and the financial stability to make the Colnago brand as popular in North America as it already is in Europe. And whats more, they are as passionate about cycling in Carson City as we are in Cambiago.”
“At Interbike the absence of bicycles at the Veltec booth was obvious to many bike manufacturers. We considered a number of fine brands but chose Colnago. Colnago is very promising for us and for our customers, since it already has significant sales with substantial growth potential,” explained Greenberg.
“Important for Colnago is to continuously improve the service to our Colnago dealers and consumers in North America” adds Alessandro Colnago, “This is the most-voiced remark that we get from our retailers and it is our responsibility to live up to the consumers expectations. Bringing one of the worlds greatest bike brands together with a strong distributor in the high-end market, the new partnership is destined to make an impact in the high end bike market.”
Veltec will begin delivering dealer orders for Colnago-including complete bikes-in the first weeks of January. Trialtir will continue to distribute a limited amount of Italian-manufactured Colnago frames until the end of March, 2007.
