Let’s get this ride started! VeloBellUSA.com is officially open!

After several months of thoughtful planning and a lot of blocking & tackling establishing Velo Bell USA LLC, working with our partners at alptrail GmbH (inventor and manufacturer of swisstrailbell®), and getting our web site and store up and running, I am happy to say we are open for business! I am excited as I am upon arriving at the trailhead on a cool and crisp morning, taking the bike off the rack and setting out on an epic ride!

I am particularly stoked about our relationship with Thomas and Gabi at alptrail GmbH based in Thalwil, Switzerland, and our US distributor agreement for the swisstrailbell®. You can see what we love about this innovative solution for making everyone's experience on the trails a bit more enjoyable and confrontation-free here: Featured: swisstrailbell®

Thanks to Thomas and Gabi for entrusting VeloBellUSA with introducing swisstrailbell® to the US market! The effort that you have put into developing the swisstrailbell® itself and the brand is abundantly evident. We will strive to be good stewards and partners.

We are excited to be offering swisstrailbell® to riders in the US via our site, velobellusa.com effective as of this post! Like myself, many riders that live in the US have experienced the elegant simplicity and uniqueness of swisstrailbell® in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe and returned home to find they or their riding buddies were unable to purchase more from within the US. That is resolved as of today, the velobellusa.com web store is open for business!

So like a lot of my more adventurous rides, I am not sure exactly where or how this ride will end, but my hopes are that it is exciting, interesting and rewarding one like the best moments on the bike! 

Like many adventures, this one was made a bit more enjoyable and successful by others that voluntarily came along for the ride! Much like a trusted tandem teammate my wife Maria has provided support and encouragement throughout this latest ride together. Sometimes the captain, other times the stoker but always with a cheerful optimism that has helped us over some challenging climbs, its great knowing she will be there all the way to the finish. Tracy, your assistance with the VeloBellUSA.com website and getting a marketing plan together, I cannot thank you enough for all that work on this the latest project of a few we have worked on! In our thirty years plus working together, your knowledge of the marketing craft and sense of style are unparalleled! To my trusted friend and consultant on all aspects of entrepreneurship, Sid, thanks for your advice and counsel. Keep riding that challenging Le Cumbre climb that is your backyard, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger my friend! To Chris (a.k.a. the Bike Dr), and Josh down in Tucson, gentlemen with well over 60 years collectively in the bicycle retail business. I appreciate your advice and candor on this particular venture concept at the outset, it was and continues to be invaluable. Also, a special shout-out to my creative consultant Joan who designed the rockin’ logo for Velo Bell USA.

Last but not least, to my regular riding crew here in the North Phoenix area, the Pacific Northwest and the ME-NH seacoast, I sincerely appreciate your individual and collective feedback on swisstrailbell®, and listening to my incessant musings about it and the business whilst riding the many miles of trails since the earliest days of this venture. I appreciate your patience and feedback, tolerating my seemingly unending monologs on the topic. Quite fittingly one of you became the very first customer of Velo Bell USA with the first purchase of swisstrailbells®, a special wedding gift for your son and soon to be daughter-in-law, avid mountain bikers in MT. I appreciate the past and future efforts amongst this esteemed group of friends in promoting Velo Bell USA, as always it is great being on your wheels! Now we can all just ride together again!

And ride we will! Now that we are open for business online, I am headed out on a promotional tour of sorts for swisstrailbell® and Velo Bell USA! Watch this space as I traverse the US from AZ to back to the New England coast, riding some awesome trails while introducing some LBSs and rental/tour operators along the way to swisstrailbell®! Onward!