I’m really pleased to announce two new sponsorship tie-ups for the coming season which some of you may have already heard a bit about.
The first is with Tank cycles from Taiwan who make their own range of Tank branded aluminium frames and also the Matrix range of carbon frames. This is all complimented by a whole range of other products like wheels and bars etc. Tank cycles have kindly provided me with a new tandem frame and various other components like chainsets etc.
A mixture of Aluminuim and carbon tubes are used to make what looks like a strong but lightweight frame. I believe this is the only frame of it’s kind in the UK currently…check out these first photo’s including the ‘training’ wheels that were also sent. Looks pretty cool on first inspection!!
I’m really looking forward to getting this all built up over the coming weeks which brings me nicely to my second new sponsor: Matrix UK.
Matrix UK is a new company who will be importing the bikes and components produced by Tank Cycles. They will be supporting me with with race wheels (Disk wheel and Tri-spoke) and other components such as saddles and handlebars. Because of this, I can probably get the bike built up quickly with high end equipment that should be tough enough for the job! We will post some more images once it’s built up.
Owen at Matrix UK is currently setting up a website for his business but is happy to take orders by email: owen@watkinsgroup.co.uk They will be able to provide all of the items produced by Tank cycles so check out their website first for details – they do some really nice looking stuff including road and triathlon frames.
The odd thing with all of this is that, although these companies are linked to each other, the sponsorship arrangements were made totally separately, so I count myself doubly lucky that both have come to fruition. I know it’s obvious, but this type of help is so important to athletes such as myself, especially after all the equipment I managed to wreck in 2011! I am especially looking forward to working with Owen at Matrix UK and hopefully I can be of some use in helping his new business develop in return his support.
Iain