SRAM acquires Velocio clothing brand

SRAM have announced the acquisition of clothing brand Velocio, marking a first move into soft goods for the component manufacturer.

The two brands have previously worked together with the 2015 Velocio–SRAM Pro cycling team, and, as is pointed out in the announcement of the sale, Velocio clothing features in the images used to launch the first SRAM AXS products.

For a brand which has, from its 2013 founding, had a clear focus on sustainability, it rightly points out, “there’s a unique challenge to running a business that often gets overlooked: succeed and your reward is a deeper expectation to grow. Grow too large, too fast and the risk is the often-lamented loss of brand, the dilution of product, and corner-cutting changes to boost profits. We won’t do any of those things.”

Commenting on the acquisition, “In selling Velocio, our focus was on finding a partner, a large brand or brand family that would value our three pillars: design, responsibility and culture. We approached SRAM precisely because we thought there might be a place in their well-respected orbit of components and bike products for us. We approached SRAM because our cultures are compatible.”

In an increasingly competitive soft goods space, where brand personality is critical to success, it will be extremely interesting to see what the future holds for Velocio. In SRAM the Velocio brand finds a home where other brands have typically thrived as part of a wider group, where brand identities are recognised as critical to the success of individual products, wed to the wider financial performance of the group.

SRAM’s recent acquisitions include Hammerhead, makers of the Chris Froome invested Karoo 2 cycling computer.

In January of this year, brand SRAM CEO Ken Lousberg discussed at some length the range of complex challenges resulting from the Covid pandemic.