In January, we started the year with a record number of awards granted to our parts and bikes. But why is winning an award important to us?
As Gerard mentioned in his earlier blog about why we sponsor the Aqua Blue Team, when you are small and don’t have the marketing budget of the big brands, you have to stand out. We have to be remarkable, and remarkable is doing things in a different way than everyone else. That is valid for the way we communicate, but most importantly that’s valid for the bikes and parts we develop.
Now, the question is what remarkable means. As a company designing bikes & parts, we might not be complete unbiased about our own designs. So, some time ago, we agreed to develop only bikes and parts that we believe could win an important industry award.
This is a great filter for the many ideas we have: if we don’t believe the bike or part is remarkable enough to win an award, most likely our customers will agree. However, when an independent jury of expert’s judge that our bike or part is worthy an award, it says something: all our competitors have equal access to such award competitions, and hence winning an award is a truly independent confirmation for what we try to achieve at 3T. (I know some people are skeptical about some awards and think they are related to advertising, but since we spend so little on advertising, we certainly can’t sway the judges that way).
We are therefore very proud at 3T that we have been granted 5 awards this month:
- SuperBike of the year 2017/2018 by road.cc for the Strada
- Bike of the year 2017/2018 by road.cc for the Strada
- Design and Innovation Award 2018 for the Superghiaia
- Design and Innovation Award 2018 for the 3T Overdrive and Bailout Cassettes
- Gear of the Year by Bikeradar for the Strada
So although it’s a nice way to get some attention for our new products, it’s actually much more important internally; it’s a confirmation that we deliver on what we intend to do: developing remarkable bikes and parts that stand out in this crowded marketplace.
I like to take this opportunity to thank all our loyal customers that have been with us all these years and who continue to buy and enjoy 3T parts and now bikes. Your support keeps us motivated to continue to make remarkable bikes & parts that make cycling fun. Thank you all!
