An appearance limited to the Olympic cross-country race in Rio for the Korean bike manufacturer Wiawis has now been transformed into a longer-term and significantly expanded partnership with a view to the new season. The frame manufacturer and Sabine Spitz intend to work together for at least three years, although this does not necessarily mean that Sabine Spitz will remain an active athlete in competitive sport for that long. The partnership goes far beyond "moving" the sponsor's bike on the racetracks of this world.

"Wiawis is relatively new to the cycling sector, but has already implemented several projects in the road and track sectors. The innovative company from the Far East now wants to do the same in the mountain bike sector. In order to speed up development, I am to contribute my experience," explains Sabine Spitz. In addition to the transfer of technical know-how, the mountain bike sport is also to be pushed in Korea. This is why the "Wiawis Bikes Pro Team" is being launched as a new professional team. In addition to the Olympic champion, two promising Koreans and a young Japanese rider will liven up the mountain bike scene. "This is of course another very interesting story with a lot of potential," says Spitz, looking forward to the challenge."It is an absolute stroke of luck for Wiawis to be able to work with an athlete like Sabine Spitz. She is already a legend of mountain biking, is still very successful and has an incredible amount of experience. This is exactly what we need," says a delighted Carsten Reuter, Managing Director of Wiawis Germany. Incidentally, involvement in sport is nothing new for Wiawis. As the world market leader in sports bows (arrow bows), the company had all the gold medal winners at the Olympic archery competition in Rio under contract. Wiawis' expertise in bow making - also sophisticated carbon technology - is also what led it to discover cycling three years ago. As with bow making, a unique nano-carbon construction method is used, which also enables the construction of particularly high-quality and lightweight carbon frames. The fact that this not only works in theory is to be demonstrated in practice by the company's commitment to racing. This is to be built up and further developed in several stages over the next few years.The first joint project that Wiawis has launched together with Sabine Spitz is a brand new nano-carbon 29-inch hardtail frame. A completely new geometry concept has been implemented that has never been seen before on the carbon market in this form. Each frame size offers the optimum seat angle for the corresponding body size. This is crucial for optimum power transmission. For manufacturing reasons, it often remains identical for all frame sizes, which is a major disadvantage for athletes and especially female athletes with a smaller body size. "I've been suffering with this and I'm delighted that I've already been able to implement this important aspect with Wiawis in this first project," says Sabine, pleased with the first fruits of the collaboration.

Sabine Spitz will be riding for the "Wiawis Bikes Pro Team" for the first time on February 23, 2017 in Cyprus. There, the German champion will compete in the traditional Afxentia stage race over a total of four one-day stages in preparation for the Cape Epic in March.

www.wiawis.com
www.sabine-spitz.com