British cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy has today announced the launch of his new range of ‘HOY’ bikes, which he will be developing with leading UK bike retailer Evans Cycles. The HOY bike brand has been several years in the making, but it is over the last 18 months that Sir Chris has been working on the bikes in earnest (whilst winning a couple of gold medals in-between).
Aside from Sir Chris’ success in the velodrome and out of the skinsuit, he is at heart just a hugely passionate cyclist and has raced pretty much everything, from BMX, to mountain bike and road.
Sir Chris delivered the news with the BBC’s Jill Douglas and Nick Wilkinson, Evans Cycles’ CEO, at the retailer’s central London workshop. At the launch he explained that establishing the HOY brand and the partnership with Evans Cycles will enable him to continue to pursue his passion for bikes and cycling, which started on a BMX almost thirty years ago.
“Cycling has been a central part of my life from an early age and has helped me achieve so much,” Hoy said. “I want to help more people experience the power and enjoyment of cycling, as well as demystifying it and making it accessible to all. That’s why I decided to create a brand that embodies this vision and my passion.”
He continued, “Evans Cycles are the ideal partner to help reach this goal. They are one of the UK’s most highly regarded bike retailers and I’m really excited to be working with them to deliver a new brand that can share my enjoyment of cycling with a whole new audience.”
The HOY bike brand is a project that Sir Chris is fully involved in. As noted by Evans, he has put a lot of attention into every aspect of the brand’s identity and product development. Sir Chris is working closely with Evans’ bike design team, driving the project with considerable technical input into frame geometry, tubing, aesthetics, and specification, as well as road testing the models himself.
The new HOY range will be available exclusively through Evans Cycles, at local stores across the UK or online. The initial line-up is due to land late spring 2013 and will consist of three road bikes, and four city bikes. There are plans to expand the range to cater for every cyclist and also the prospect of a limited edition track bike.
