Where the Money Flows: Cycling Sponsorships in 2026 with Nicolò Ildos

The bike world is arguing about 32-inch wheels. Is it a physics-backed leap forward, or is it the industry's latest attempt to move units during a tough cycle?Joshua Riddle has a unique vantage point. He's Marketing Director at Hayes Bicycle Group — Hayes Brakes, Manitou Suspension, Reynolds Wheels — and his team is already riding prototypes. Today we talk about what makes innovations stick, what the 29er era can teach us about what's coming, and why Joshua thinks the question was never really *if*.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

Eric Yung has spent nearly two decades at Polartec doing one thing exceptionally well — and that's exactly the point. As Managing Director and VP of Sales and Marketing at Polartec (a Milliken company), Eric pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build a premium ingredient brand over the long haul.The answer isn't growth at all costs. It's ruthless focus, selective partnerships, and the discipline to walk away from opportunities that don't fit. In this episode, we dig into how Polartec invented modern synthetic fleece alongside Patagonia, why they deliberately stepped back from a commoditizing outdoor market to bet on cycling, and what it really means to "win with winners."Eric also breaks down the PFAS transition, the three pillars of Polartec's product universe — insulation, base layer, and weather protection — and why cycling brands are now among the most innovation-hungry partners they work with.If you're building a brand in cycling and wondering how to differentiate in a world getting more competitive by the day, Eric's philosophy is a blueprint worth studying.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

In this episode, we sit down with Philip Ferger, the newly appointed Managing Director of Fairnamic — the company behind Eurobike — just four weeks into his role. Philip brings over 20 years of experience at Messe Frankfurt, co-owner of FairNamic, and joins at a critical moment for the cycling industry's most important trade show. The conversation covers what's actually changing at Eurobike and why: a more budget-accessible format for 2026, a new industry advisory board, and a broader strategic repositioning aimed at 2027. Philip also addresses the hard questions head-on — the B2B vs. B2C debate, whether Eurobike has drifted too far from its cycling roots, and what it takes to keep a trade show relevant when the industry is under pressure.If you're wondering what's next for Eurobike, this episode is essential listening.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

The business of professional cycling has never been more complex — or more expensive. Team budgets are exploding, rider time is increasingly scarce, and brands are being asked to spend more while getting less access in return. Meanwhile, gravel is professionalizing fast, and Asian brands are quietly reshaping who supplies the peloton.In this episode, I sit down with sports marketing consultant Nicolò Ildos to take stock of where sponsorship dollars are flowing as we head into the 2026 season — and what brands need to ask themselves before writing any checks.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

HEXLOX founder Marcus Tonndorf spent years studying design in London and earning an MBA in Berlin, working at Pentagram on brands like Citibank, launching a failed publishing house in Japan, and even getting his illustrations into millions of Kinder Eggs.By 2015, he'd figured out what he didn't want to do—now he just needed the right product. So he walked into Eurobike with no company and no prototype, just a hypothesis that the cycling industry needed his skills. Within a year, he launched a Kickstarter together with a partner that funded in 24 hours and hit 800% of its goal—after camping outside press booths in Taiwan and pitching a Kickstarter account manager at a New York Starbucks.Today, HEXLOX tiny magnetic security devices protect bicycles, motorcycles, and museum exhibits worldwide, proving that sometimes the scenic route is the smartest one.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

Sam Nichols brings a rare perspective to the cycling industry—he's an outsider who became an insider during the most turbulent period in recent memory. After a decade at Amazon and strategic consulting at Bain, Sam took the CEO role at YT Industries in November 2020, just as private equity was flooding into cycling.In this conversation, we cut through the noise around private equity in our industry. Sam explains how PE actually works using straightforward analogies, why the timing of 2020-2021 investments proved so disastrous, and what happens when company valuations collapse below the debt used to acquire them. We also discuss why family-owned businesses like Specialized and Trek have weathered this storm better, and what the current restructuring wave means for the brands caught in it.This isn't about vilifying private equity—it's about understanding the financial mechanics reshaping our industry.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

CEO at Rali Systems and Contributor at VitalMTB, Jeff Brines introduces his "barbell hypothesis". In the conversation we discuss how the cycling market is splitting into two thriving extremes while the middle hollows out. Bikes under $4,000 and premium builds above $15,000 are selling well, but the $6,000-8,000 sweet spot is disappearing.He attributes this to slowing technological progress (diminishing returns on spending), demographic shifts between asset owners and non-owners, and middle-class economic pressure. Brines advises brands to identify their moat: either compete on volume or position as premium.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

Claire Deschamps is the CMO of Assos, and she brings a refreshing outsider's perspective to the cycling world. After spending a decade at consumer goods giants like Unilever and Colgate, this French marketing exec—who's called Mexico, Rome, and now Switzerland home—joined Assos nearly three years ago to help the premium apparel brand navigate a rapidly shifting landscape.In our conversation, Claire shares how marketing has changed dramatically—it's no longer about brands talking at consumers, but about letting communities, ambassadors, and athletes become the voice of the brand. She opens up about how Assos is honoring its 50-year heritage while reaching new riders: women, gravel enthusiasts, and the wave of newcomers who discovered cycling during COVID. Plus, she reveals how digging into consumer data helped bust some long-held assumptions about who's actually buying premium cycling apparel.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

In an industry dominated by legacy brands, Quoc Pham took an unconventional path to building Quoc, one of cycling's most distinctive footwear companies. A Vietnamese refugee who arrived in the UK at the age of eight, Quoc traded formulas and maths for fashion design, eventually graduating from Central Saint Martin's College.Four years of running a menswear brand label taught him the harsh realities of the apparel business, but he found his calling at the intersection of his two passions: beautiful design and cycling. What started in 2010 with a suitcase of leather cycling shoes and cold calls to London bike shops has grown into a 20-person company challenging the status quo of cycling footwear.In this conversation, Quoc shares the unglamorous truth about building a brand from scratch—from near bankruptcy and COVID setbacks to the simple philosophy that's carried him forward: do the basics exceptionally well. This isn't just a story about making shoes. It's about the power of persistence, the importance of customer service in a relationship-driven industry, and why sometimes the best competitive advantage is simply replying to emails within 12 hours.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter

If you have logged onto LinkedIn anytime in the last year, chances are you already know Juansi Vivo. Juansi has become one of the most candid—and provocative—voices in our feed, posting daily critiques that challenge how we do business.Before he was a digital thought leader, Juansi was a project manager in Spanish academia with a secure job for life. In this episode, we talk about the personal tragedy that forced him to quit that safety net and dive headfirst into the cycling world—working with major players like Cannondale, BMC, and Orbea.We discuss why he believes the industry is currently "inbreeding"—talking only to itself—and we break down his central argument: that we are leaving money on the table by ignoring 95% of the population. He calls them "Los Ignorados"—the ignored ones.Read the latest 'The Business of Cycling' BlogSign up for 'The Business of Cycling' Newsletter