Italian road bike manufacturer Colnago Srl has parted company with its exclusive North American distributor Veltec Sports and has formed a US subsidiary, based in Chicago, to manage all US distribution.
“We are extremely excited to announce the creation of Colnago America Inc, which will be the direct supplier of Colnago frames and accessories in America,” said Ernesto Colnago. “The transition of the distribution services from former Colnago importer Veltec Sports to Colnago America will be complete by the end of February 2009.”
In December 2006, Colnago confirmed Veltec Sports as the exclusive North American distributor for Colnago bikes and framesets. This followed eight years of Trialtir serving as Colnago’s North American distributor.
“Over the past several years, we has experienced substantial growth worldwide, but to reach our full potential in the North American market, we felt for a while, we needed to make a change,” explained Colnago Sales Manager, Alex Colnago. “For the first time in the long history of Colnago sales in America, we will be in a position to have full control over our distribution, sales and marketing. Now we will be able to offer more competitive prices, improve delivery and service to our retailers and Colnago riders in North America.”
Colnago, manufactures a range of road frames and accessories, including the Colnago Flight time trial and triathlon bike.
The company is the headline sponsor of the forthcoming Colnago Gran Fondo San Diego event, which takes place in Little Italy, San Diego, on 1 March 2009. “Gran Fondo” means “Big Ride” in Italian.
Akin to cyclosportives in France, Gran Fondos are long distance, mass-participation cycling events – rather than races – that have become a cycling tradition in Italy, bringing together recreational and competitive amateur cyclists, and thousands of riders of all abilities..
