Two more leading international brands have committed to partner with Top MTB Trails, the new South African mountain bike trails initiative that promotes trails and offers a unique user-generated trails rating system.
Thule has come on board as the Travel Partner and Oakley has committed to the Eyewear Partnership. They join the existing partnerships from Toyota (vehicles), Specialized (eBikes), Go Pro (media hardware) and TREAD (media).
“We’re very pleased to welcome Thule and Oakley as partners to Top MTB Trails. Thule already indicated their intention to commit late last year, but have now finalised their partnership. Our Top MTB Trails team, which travels around the country to ride, review and rate mountain bike trails will be equipped with what we believe to be the best mountain bike carrier system there is,” said Sean Badenhorst, co-founder of Top MTB Trails.
“Based on the annual South African Mountain Biking survey, Oakley is the leading performance eyewear brand in South Africa and has been for some time. We’re stoked to know that our team members will be wearing the best protective eyewear both on the bike and off it,” added Badenhorst.
As official partners, both Thule and Oakley will be contributing to the monthly prizes offered to South African mountain bikers that rate the trails they have ridden that month. Oakley will be offering eyewear product each month and Thule will be giving vouchers to their stores.
“Oakley chooses to partner with brands or initiatives that enable consumers to empower themselves. Top MTB Trails is a year-round, country-wide initiative that encourages mountain bikers to ride different trails and then rate them. It’s positive for riders, trails and the industry as a whole,” said Sade Anter, Oakley Brand Manager.
“Both Oakley’s Prizm and Photochromic lens technology deliver enhanced vision on trails in varying light conditions and we want to ensure all South African mountain bikers are aware of this important feature. Oakley also makes high-end helmets and apparel, so on a few levels, the fit with Top MTB Trails is a good one for the brand,” added Anter.
“Thule has been committed to developing smart, stylish products that are environmentally sound, high quality, safe and easy to use. Most people know the brand for the world class bike racks but the offering has expanded to include a number of cycling related products including bike travel cases, hydration packs, pannier bags and child bike seats,” said Jamie Owen of SA Sport and Cargo, the company that distributes Thule in South Africa.
“We feel that Top MTB Trails is a great initiative as it will incentivise our trails networks to be at their best and this will have a positive impact on cycling in the country. For this reason we look forward to partnering with the Top MTB Trails team and ensuring that their e-bikes and gear make it around the country safely.”
“With a number of leading brands as our partners, we are confident that our objectives with Top MTB Trails will be comfortably achieved. Based on the traffic stats since we launched the website in late November 2021, Top MTB Trails has been very well received as the go-to place to find mountain bike trails. We’ll continue to drive that awareness but are also now focusing on encouraging riders to rate the trails as that’s a key feature of the site and an important factor for the South African mountain bike trails market,” said Michael Griffin, co-founder of Top MTB Trails.
“We have a few more partner brand opportunities available still and are speaking to more leading brands to fulfil those, including large corporates that are keen to engage with the 400 000-strong South African mountain bike market all year round,” added Griffin.
See the Top MTB Trails partner brands page here for existing partner information and partner categories still available.
