Olympic legend Sir Jason Kenny is backing a North Staffordshire business in its bid to create the world's fastest bikes.
Sir Jason – who is the most decorated Olympic cyclist ever – has kickstarted a Crowdcube campaign as one of the first investors in Newcastle-under-Lyme-based REAP bikes.
The company wants to capitalise on the increase in bike sales in the UK and is looking to raise a minimum of £300,000 to expand capacity for its British engineered carbon composite frames.
Now it is hoping to garner public support with a crowdfunding campaign aimed at giving people the 'unique opportunity to invest in the fastest developing bike brand in the world.'
It comes after Sir Jason – who retired from professional cycling in February having won nine Olympic medals – joined the team at REAP as a performance partner.
Sir Jason said: "I'm really excited to be working in collaboration with REAP. Our mission is to make amazing bikes here in Britain – and make them available to everyone.
"As soon as I got my hands on the REAP bikes, I knew I was on to something really special."
Founded by Martin Meir in 2014, REAP specialises in the design and manufacture of the world's fastest performance bikes.
Over the last six years, the Parkhouse Industrial Estate business has been refining three frames, focusing on a road bike, a triathlon bike and a prototype track bike.
In 2016, REAP's Generation 1.0 model was named the world's fastest bike in its launch season when tested against market leaders.
Now, with the support of Sir Jason and the Crowdcube campaign, the company is targeting projected revenues of £12 million by 2026.
Martin said: "The prototype track bike is already on par aerodynamically with the bike that holds the current individual and team pursuit world records.
"This gives us a great platform to develop the definitive world's fastest bikes, in conjunction with our new performance partner and investor, Sir Jason Kenny."
Sir Jason added: "The fact that every bike is manufactured in-house here in the UK gives the team so much control over the whole process and quality.
"It is this commitment to performance that has seen it ridden by some of the UK's leading athletes and will make it a force to be reckoned with across cycling and triathlon in the coming years."
The crowdfunding campaign goes live on Thursday, May 19. Visit the REAP bikes website for more information.
