As the quest to make power measurement for cycling more widely accessible continues, we’re seeing new brands entering the mix. Although not that new (launched in 2015) Sigeyi’s AXO power meter is making an impact on the discerning, committed cyclist market across, road, mountain bike, gravel and triathlon. It’s also now being distributed in South Africa by Phil Buys Sports, headed up by multiple South African mountain bike champion, Philip Buys.
Sigeyi is a Chinese brand that’s focused on delivering a lightweight power meter that fits most bikes and drivetrain brands. Its primary functions are measuring power, cadence and left/right leg power balance. Two key factors with power meters are: accuracy and price. The Sigeyi AXO meets power accuracy expectations with impressive consistency and its price is low enough to be considered disruptive. Each Sigeyi AXO unit comes standard with a two-year warranty.
“I saw the Sigeyi AXO on a social media post by former Swiss pro racer, now a coach, Florian Vogel and enquired. I ordered one for myself and have been using it for a few months,” explained Buys.
“As a coach myself, I know how important accurate and consistent power measurement is. So having trained and raced with the Sigeyi AXO for the past few months has given me excellent insight into how it works. It really impressed me, which is why we applied to become the South African distributor for Sigeyi,” added Buys.
For more on the Sigeyi AXO power meter, check out the South African site here.
Besides being owner of the Pyga EuroSteel mountain bike racing team, Buys has also developed his own range of products over the past few years. During the hard lockdown in 2020, when racing was suspended, he and his colleagues were able to focus entirely on refining some of the products in his BagBox brand, which makes a light, foldable bike travel case a bakkie tailgate cover and frame, handlebar and seatpost bags for gravel riding and ultra-endurance events as well as tube-strap carriers.
Check out the BagBox product range here.
A couple of years ago, Buys also developed his own nutrition supplement brand focussed on South African conditions, called Fore Nutrition. It includes ForeRace, a high-quality carb drink for on-the-bike energy, ForeRecovery , a post-ride recovery drink, ForeProtein , an anytime protein shake, Fore Boost , a powder-based mix with caffeine to replace the conventional ‘gel’; and ForeElectrolyte , a no-carb electrolyte replacement drink.
Check out the Fore Nutrition range here.
In 2021, the business also became the South African distributor for Kalas, a Czech Republic sports clothing brand that makes a full range of technical cycling clothing, including men and women’s bib shorts , riding jerseys and base and outer layers. While sales of garments are steady, it’s the custom design option that’s proving very popular in South Africa as Kalas offers small minimum quantities and the highest garment quality.
Check out the ready-to-buy Kalas range here.
Find out more about Kalas Customwear here.
“I enjoy racing and training for racing, but I need more to stimulate me. I have thoroughly enjoyed developing the products in the past few years and we have been selling for some time. However we have never done any formal marketing, so most of our sales so far are just word of mouth and from Instagram posts,” explained Buys.
Buys and his team recently relocated the business to larger premises in Menlo Park, Pretoria and are now able to focus on consistent production and new product development.
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Crazy that I was looking at their website literally 10 minutes before this popped up, anyone else that has used these and have any feedback?