Wahoo Fitness Acquires Speedplay Pedals
On 24th September Wahoo Fitness announced that it had acquired Speedplay, the niche high end pedal manufacturer known for its unique colourful ‘lollypop’ shaped Zero pedals.
In a joint press release Wahoo Fitness founder Chip Hawkins said, “Wahoo and Speedplay share a common approach of leveraging technology to develop products that enhance the performance of cyclists.
“Speedplay pedals are the most innovative, high performance pedals available so it’s a perfect fit with Wahoo. We welcome the opportunity to offer another edge to ‘Wahooligans’ around the world with the best pedals in the business.”
Meanwhile, Speedplay CEO Richard Bryne said, “When Sharon Worman and I founded Speedplay, it was because we wanted to solve problems performance athletes were having in reaching their full potential. By becoming part of the Wahoo family, we can carry that mission to more athletes with more compelling products than ever before.”
There is media speculation that a key driver behind the acquisition is the opportunity for Wahoo to develop a pedal based power meter using the Speedplay pedal as a starting point.
Back in July Wahoo announced that it had acquired the cycling training platform ‘The Sufferfest’ which produces an online library of cycling and running workouts.
Wahoo is based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and employs over 100 staff and sells its indoor trainers through over 50 countries worldwide. It received major private equity investment funding in July 2018.
In Australia Speedplay is distributed by Echelon Sports and Wahoo, by another Queensland based wholesaler, FE Sports.