Relationships are everything. They are the only thing. I met Tom Petrie in the early 1980s when he was in publishing and my contact at Winning Magazine. I took ads in several publications, and thoroughly trusted Tom’s perspective on size, frequency, insertion rates, and everything to do with using print for my media blasts. He mentored me well.
Fast forward a bit and Mr. Petrie now has an agency representing a cross section of high-brow brands from the bicycle industry. We’re in the middle 1990s at this point and the RSCX Team is hitting its first stride. The relationship from one era begets various sponsorships for the next. The companies that Tom Petrie handled in North America were among the first wave of supporters we had. And on this list was Wippermann – now known as Connex.
For well over a decade, the only chain my cx team has raced on, and the only chain I’ll use on a Richard Sachs bicycle, is Connex.
As bicycle components go, few are as without sex appeal as are chains. They’re small. Get dirty easily. Have no loud and garish logos to tell others what you’re riding on. But then again few are as important to the ride, to the whole, to the experience, as is the chain. Its relationship to the drive train has to be perfect. Seamless. That’s why I chose Connex.