Our new Operations and Sales Lead

Personal Background:

Can you briefly introduce yourself and your role at Velobike?

My name is Jayden, I’m stoked to join the Velobike team as operations and sales lead. I’ve been riding a variety of bikes since the age of 7, Including a 2 year stint in track cycling from 2019-2021. It excites me to begin working within the realm of cycling for a company truly pushing the industry forward! 

You've toured the world for 'Crankworxs' freestyle mountain biking events. What's your most memorable experience from these tours?

While I’ve only been riding mountain bikes for 2.5 years, I feel super fortunate and lucky to be able to compete on the international scene and complete 2 full seasons of the Crankworx world tour. In doing this I’ve had the opportunity to compete against and learn from the best riders in the world.

For me the most memorable experience was my first pro podium at a Crankworx podium at the biggest round of the year in Whistler Canada!

You’re one of the few New Zealand mountain bikers who can do a double backflip. What was the journey like to achieve this skill? 

While freestyle mountain biking is still a physical sport, Definitely a lot less-so then Track cycling. Learning Double flips requires a lot of mental thought, While the trick itself is theoretically not a super technical hard trick, It did take a lot of mental training and visualisation.

Transition from Athlete to Velobike:

How did you first get involved in the cycling industry, and what led you to transition from being an athlete to joining Velobike?

I first started track cycling as a form of Rehab after a knee reconstruction early in 2019 from a crash through bmx racing, I fell in love with the raw speed of it. At a similar time a good friend of mine had been making his own bike parts for BMX and Mountain Bikes in his own CNC Machine, This process and seeing how parts were made inspired me to start a CNC Machining apprenticeship and teach myself the building blocks of Computer based 3D modelling enabling me to create a few small parts of my own for both BMX and Track Bikes. My passion for creating bike parts still lives these years later.

So you have experience as a CNC Machinist, What other jobs or roles have you had that have led you to an operations role at Velobike?

For the past two years I have worked for a growing clothing company in the activewear / ride space and ended up in a variety of roles from marketing, athlete management, sampling with factories, shipping and logistics managing new stores opening and events as well as so many more things in small volumes, I think this well rounded experience within a business will help me in my time at Velobike.

Current Role and Future Plans:

What specific tasks or areas will you be focusing on in your role, especially concerning admin activities and customer/retailer relations?

I’m excited to get to work on multiple operational roles within Velobike like Inventory management, Project management of product development, Documenting and collaborating to trial and improve our processes. As well as managing the wholesale side of the business which excites me to build relationships with like minded people from around the world are as excited about the brand as I am! While the roll is not fixed to what activities I will and won’t get involved in, I’m excited to see what the roll can expand into!

As we look towards the LA Olympics in 2028, what role do you see yourself playing in Velobike’s R&D and retail arms?

While I don’t believe I’ll have too much hands on work in developing product, my main roll is taking as much of mastermind Glenn’s plate in a operational business sense so he can focus and put as much of his own time as possible into the R&D, In saying this with experience in both manufacturing (At a low level) and track cycling, I hope to be a sounding board to any ideas and thoughts and put my own knowledge and experience towards any potential new products!

Quick-fire Questions:

What’s your favourite cycling gear or accessory?

Velobike Cleat Locks

If you could ride any trail or track in the world right now, where would it be?

The newly refurbished Whanganui Velodrome! 

Any shoutouts or acknowledgments you'd like to give?

A huge thank you to Glenn and Valerie for providing me a platform to work in an industry I am passionate about and giving me an opportunity to expand my own knowledge as a worker, also allowing me the flexibility to be able to train, travel and compete at my highest possible level for my sport!