Industry Insider: MTB career insights with Andi Sykes of The Rider Firm, Privateer and Hunt

We talk to Andi Sykes, the marketing force behind Hunt MTB, Privateer and Cairn.

off.road.cc staff

Jul 26 2024

[Words by Steve Thomas]

Like many involved within the off-road side of the cycling industry, Andi Sykes has held a near-lifelong passion for riding bikes, particularly those with flat bars and flared tyres.

From his “Danny MacAskill style” pre-teen bedroom-based Lego bike building and dreaming of rocking bigger bikes like the great and fast Frenchies of the era, on to turning his wanderlust into a spicy dish of eastern promise, the great and winding trail of life eventually led to a fateful meeting with the man behind the bike brand he’d modelled those early blocky plastic bikes on.

Combining his biking passions with lessons of life learned from many years spent living in China, Andi decided that the bike industry was where he wanted to live – and his ride from there to his current lead marketing role with The Rider Firm has been just as colourful as you might expect.

From his home base in the Peak District, the 43-year-old northerner tells us about his winding journey through life and work.

In your own words, who are you and what do you do?

My name is Andi Sykes, and I work in marketing.

What is your job?

My official title at The Rider Firm is Senior Marketing Manager. I head up the marketing for Privateer Bikes, HUNT MTB and Cairn in the UK, and I also oversee the marketing for US and EU markets.

How did you get into what you do?

I started mountain biking when I was around 12 years old. I became obsessed with mountain bikes, and the technology behind them. I even built Lego Technic versions of the Sunn Radical in my bedroom. I was a massive fan of the Sunn Chippie team back then!

Although I always rode bikes, it was when I met Max Commencal in Spain one year that I realised I wanted to get into the industry. I had just moved to Spain after living in China for 10 years, where I’d been running my own company in the tech industry, and I was riding at La Fenasosa when I met him. It was a pretty special day, as this was the guy who I followed with the Sunn Chippie team (Max was the founder of Sunn), and we still stay in touch today.

After that, I dabbled with my own cycling website while in Spain but, upon moving back to the UK, I got a job with Singletrack World magazine. They were looking for someone with social media management experience, which I had from running my websites. But because I could also write, I understood SEO, and I was comfortable on camera, I soon joined the editorial team and eventually became the tech editor.

I left Singletrack World (after 5 years) just after COVID-19 and ran a UCI downhill team. I was planning on starting my own website and YouTube channel when I received a call from someone working at The Rider Firm.

They were looking for an MTB brand manager for Hunt. I decided to apply for it, and I got it. While I don't have any formal training, I have a lot of experience in marketing from my time working in China with brands such as Xiaomi and Huawei – and I also have really great contacts in the cycling industry.

After working as the Hunt MTB brand manager for around 12 months, I was promoted to work on Privateer Bikes, and then last year, I became the senior marketing manager.

I suppose that's the long answer. The short answer is if I hadn't lived in China, gaining all of that experience and knowledge around marketing, content creation, social media, video and expanding my horizons, I wouldn't be answering these questions today.

How long have you been working in the bike industry?

In total, I've worked in the bike industry for around 12 years.

How have things changed since you started in the industry?

I feel like I'm in a unique position, where I can see how the industry has changed as a customer, a journalist (or a person in the media) and now as a marketer.

Bikes have changed massively with geometry being the big one. The integration of electronics into bikes, while not really a new idea, is finally becoming mainstream. Then there are e-bikes, which have been interesting to watch.

From the point of a marketer, and as someone who used to make content for a living, the most impressive change is how we now consume our content and the rise of solo creators and influencers. It's now possible for anyone with a smartphone to easily shoot a review or a riding edit and upload it to YouTube, and this has been really exciting to watch. It has really helped change things up and I enjoy the unique content being created.

Is there anything you wish you could change about your role/job?

Not really. I get to work with great people, and my job is varied. The only thing I'd like to change is how often I ride. I really need to get out on my bike more often.

What does the average week look like?

I don't have an average week, as it's really varied. Because I primarily work from home on both the wheel and bike teams, and we have offices in Germany and the US, I'm in meetings quite a bit – not just with our team but with journalists and content creators, too.

I also manage our team of athletes and ambassadors. We work with a really great bunch of riders now, and I'm happy that they're all self-starters and come to me with a lot of cool ideas and projects. It's crazy to think that I'm able to pick up the phone and chat with people like Katy Curd and call it work.

Chatting with people such as Katy, Ferg (Fergus Ryan), Joe Connell, Lachlan Blair, the media, and our customers often sparks new ideas both from a marketing and promotion point of view – and also from the product development side. I'll feed back my findings to our engineering teams on both the wheel and bike side, and it's great to see those thoughts and suggestions appear as features in final products.

I still write a lot; press releases, product pages, journals, mailers. I shoot videos now and then. Then, of course, I will work on advertisements and promotions, ensure the media has products for review or for projects, and plan social media.

Obviously working with media, creating assets and sponsoring great riders means having a budget, and that's something I spend a lot of time planning and working on, too.

Planning product launches is a big part of my job, too. Since joining the company I've been in charge of product launches for our Proven Carbon range of mountain bike wheels, the Privateer DJ101, Privateer E161 and most recently, the Gen 2 range of Privateer bikes. This is a job in itself with a lot of logistics work, meeting with the media, arranging photo and video shoots, designing landing pages etc

What advice would you give to someone who wants to do your job/what you do?

Having good connections is more valuable than having the right qualifications. I think that being creative is a must, not just in terms of thinking outside of the box, but in having the ability to write, shoot photos, videos etc.

You also need to be flexible, understanding, and a good communicator. It also helps to be confident in public speaking or being in front of a camera. Being in front of a camera is interesting, and it's becoming increasingly important with the rise in YouTube channels; many people don't like it but I really enjoy it.

What do you like most about what you do?

The fact is that my day is always varied. I also really appreciate that I'm trusted to just get on with what I'm doing, this helps me to jump on opportunities quickly.

If you weren't doing this, you would be?

I'd probably be making content and working for myself, and I'd still love to have my own YouTube channel. I might still be running a DH team, too.

What have been some of the highlights of your career?

A lot of cool things have happened; I broke a lot of stories and managed to get plenty of exclusive interviews, first looks, and other stories while working at Singletrack World, and I'm still really proud of that.

Running a DH team was crazy. I still can't believe that happened; it's just a shame that other commitments got in the way. Of course, I'm really proud of our recent product launches, too.

What I would say is the biggest highlight, though, was running my own company out in China.

The industry is in a bit of a tough situation at the moment. Do you see it recovering any time soon and, if so, what will brands need to do to stay relevant and afloat?

Like everyone, I hope it gets better soon, and I think we will start to see a gradual improvement over time. But we're not going to experience a sudden switch back to the 'norm' anytime soon.

Customers, rightly so, are more careful than ever when purchasing products, so it's up to brands like us to offer something that provides a real benefit to riders. Whether that's a performance benefit or durability benefit, brands need to keep innovating and exciting the customer so that when things do improve, they'll be in a good position to serve the rider.

What do you dislike most about the cycling industry?

Like all industries, there are things that bother me or I disagree with, but there's nothing that I dislike.

How do you keep things balanced when your hobby becomes your job?

I'm the worst person to ask. I'm terrible at balancing my work and personal life, and I really need to improve. It's something that I found running my own business, and no matter how much I try to unlearn my bad habits, I haven't been able to yet. I'm improving, but I'll still log in to my email on a day off and answer messages when I shouldn't be working.

Living in China, I was so used to everything happening almost instantly, and I need to learn to relax a little and take things as they come.

But when I do switch off I get out and ride either gravel, an e-bike or a trail bike, and I think mixing up the type of riding helps. I also have other hobbies, I like working on my retro cars, shooting photos and videos, and I have three kids who keep me busy, too.

off-road.cc

Industry Insider: MTB career insights with Andi Sykes of The Rider Firm, Privateer and Hunt

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