The company’s shop on Boucher Rd, Belfast, is holding events this weekend for its 1st birthday
The Co Antrim-based online retail giant ChainReactionCycles.com has moved further into sponsoring road racing with news that it is backing one of the classification jerseys in the Tour of Britain next month.
The move may be a modest one but comes during its first season backing its own small Northern Irish road and off road team and in what is its first season sponsoring the An Post-Sean Kelly team.
Indeed the bike industry is awash with rumours that the company, one of the world’s larges online cycling retailers, is about to step up its relationship with the Irish-Belgian team.
Next month the company will sponsor the “ChainReactionCycles Points Jersey” in the Tour of Britain.
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It will also become the race’s official online cycle retail partner.
Event manager at ChainReactionCycles, Grant Norris said the company was delighted to be involved with the British event.
"With the nation excited in seeing the fruits of Team GB's Olympic cycling success, it will be great to see the elites back in the saddle for the UK's premier road race."
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The company was established in 1984 as a shop – Ballynure Cycles – in the village of Ballynure, by George and Janice Watson. It then expanded into a mail order company and with the proliferation of the internet in the mid to late 1990s it launched its website www.chainreactioncycles.com in 1999.
It made a pre-tax profit of £13.3m in 2010, the last year for which figures are readily available.
It has been very heavily involved in sponsorship in recent years, but this has been almost exclusively in the off road sphere, in the sport of triathlon and with charity events.
However, having become a secondary sponsor to the An Post-Sean Kelly this year, launched the ChainReactionCycles-Vitus road and off road team in the North and also become the title sponsor of ITV4’s new ‘CycleShow’ - not to mention its involvement now with the Tour of Britain - a more significant relationship with An Post-Sean Kelly would seem a natural progression.
The company’s flagship store on the Boucher Road in Belfast is this weekend marking its first year in existence with a number of events. A note from the company outlines the action:
T13 Kids Masterclass: Friday 17th and Saturday 18th (12pm-4pm)
We’ll be hosting T13 for two days of free-to-participate workshops in the Boucher Road Store car park. Taking a break out of a busy touring schedule, Captain Matt G will be there will his very own skills course layout to test riders of all levels. Better still, RampRage Resident DJ Koncept will be laying down a cool urban set - so don't miss the action!
David McCann 2012 Olympic cyclist: Friday 17th (7.30pm)
Fresh from competing at the London 2012 Olympics, Irish road racer David McCann will host an evening lecture where he’ll discuss his professional career to-date including his recent experience at London 2012 and his many Irish National Road Race Championship and Irish National Time Trial wins.
Ride out with David McCann: Saturday 18th (10am)
If Friday evening’s experience with the great man isn’t enough, why not join Olympian David McCann on a ride out from the Boucher Road store? The 30km (approx.) ride will take in the finest riding in the area – it’s not often you can say you’ve ridden alongside an Olympic cyclist, so make the most of this great occasion while you can.
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