Vellum sets its sights on triathlon

Last Thursday, I attended a press conference of Vellum Cycles (www.vellumcycles.com) at the Cebu City Sports Center upon the invitation of Chris Aldeguer and Mike Flores, CEO and Chief Designer, respectively. At it didn’t disappoint!

The main reason of course was the partial unveiling of Vellum Cycles 2013 lineup and on the menu was the flagship model, a time trial bike named Uno. In case you haven’t heard of the company, Vellum is bike company who does their own design but source their carbon and aluminum frames outside the country. Importantly, at least for me, it is backed up and 100% owned by “bisdaks” and enough good reason why we should own one.

Since 1988, I’ve been through a lot of frames, from the custom made steel, chromoly, and welded at the defunct ASP Cycle Haus along Junquera to an Italian aluminum GIOS and a titanium Merckx. But nothing beats the comfort, lightness, rigidity and responsiveness of my current ride, a carbon Vellum Elemente. I’m not saying this because the owners are my friends but because the ride speaks for itself.

For the next three years at least, Cebu will become the “triathlon capital” of the country, as Chris explained. That’s because the mother or all local tri’s, the IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines, after being held the past three years in Camarines Sur, has been moved to Cebu. BTW, IRONMAN 70.3 consists of a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike leg and a 21km marathon.

I’ve done triathlon twice but I realized that I need to invest a lot of time, which I didn’t have, just to be competitive. That’s why I always have a high regard for the regular Joe who has a day job and a family and still excel in the sport, or any sport.

I remembered when triathlon was introduced here in Cebu back in the late 90’s, it’s popularity was meteoric but it fizzled out just as it came. But when a group was able to get the IRONMAN brand 4 years ago and brought it here, triathlon made a renaissance.

And this what Vellum wants, to take advantage of the sport not only from a business perspective but also to support and help sustain the gains made and make the sport mainstream. Vellum’s involvement is also personal, as Chris and Mike both also do triathlons. Chris, at one time trained with the national team. So expect to see these two guys in all local tri events from now on.

To show its that they are serious in the competitive side, Vellum has signed up Aussie Dan Brown, who will be using the new TT frames for local and international tri events this year. Brown, who is married to Filipina triathlete, is also the coach of the PHI Triathlon Team.

Going back to their frames, I can definitely say that it is up to par the worlds best. But cycling is an old world sport and getting a step ahead against the established frame builders will be a difficult but not an impossible task. It’s not everyday that you see somebody wearing passion on his or her sleeves. Chris and Mike wear theirs, 24/7.