For lifers like us, it’s always kind of exciting when a celebrity is spotted riding a bike. And it’s an even more exciting when it’s a nice bike. Whose heart didn’t swell when they saw that photo of Conan O’Brien on his Serotta? Unfortunately, for every Conan O’Brien podcast with a Dutch frame builder, or David Byrne book about urban cycle touring, there are a dozen Simon Cowell injuries on overpowered e-bikes. Especially in the U.S., we all too rarely see the people who drive mainstream culture putting bikes in a positive light. That’s why Canyon’s partnership with LeBron James is such a big deal.
Today, Canyon launches their “Find your Freedom” campaign with a glossy video featuring James and a number of Canyon athletes. And this is not the first time Canyon and James have worked together, though this may be the first time some of us are learning of it. LeBron James made a significant investment in Canyon Bicycles back in 2022. We’ll be careful with details because there were multiple parties involved, including but not limited to James’s investment firm LRBR Ventures. But the total investment amounted to €30 million ($30.5 million). And James was already an investor in the bike industry. He was involved in a similar (but smaller) deal with Cannondale in 2008.
But in between, he’s been making the kinds of investments in cycling that reflect the spirit of the Find Your Freedom campaign. The LeBron James Family Foundation has donated hundreds of bikes and helmets to kids in his home town of Akron Ohio. Like most of us, bikes were a big part of James’s childhood. For a time, his family didn’t own a car, so his bike was how he got around. That’s largely what drives his charity to include bicycles in their outreach. But there’s a lot more talk of poetic stuff like “the wind in your face” in the Find Your Freedom campaign Canyon launched today with a video shot largely in Jame’s current home of Los Angeles.
Travis actually got to stop by on one of the shooting days in Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium. A few of Canyon’s athletes were on hand, including Fabio Wibmer, Olivia Silva, and LA local, Andrew Jackson. There were also people on Canyon’s marketing team looking on, so Travis spoke with some of them about why Canyon is a good fit for James’s mission. And if the shoddy cell-phone audio he recorded hadn’t turned out to be completely incoherent, Travis would totally have some thoughtful quotes from Canyon’s head of marketing, Simon Summerscales. Or some bitingly humorous ones from product director, Vernon Felton. Instead, we’ll paraphrase and say it’s sort of an aspirational thing.
It’s not like James is donating Grizl gravel bikes to the young students of Akron, Ohio. Charity is just one aspect of his efforts to promote cycling. Sure, he’s got a financial stake in Canyon. That’s why he and his production company are involved with this rather high-budget promo spot. But try to look at this Canyon ad and its corny catchphrase through a non-cynical lens, and it does make a lot of sense. If you can accept their consumer-direct-ness, there’s no denying Canyon’s lineup extends to lower prices than a lot of mainstream manufacturers grabbing headlines these days. And Canyon is probably more of a household name than any other consumer-direct brand out there. For people who might want their relationship with bikes to evolve from a basic utility into something more, Canyon is probably going to be a pretty popular choice. And like it or not, the power of celebrity can go a long way in influencing people’s behavior. It’s pretty exciting to see such a powerful influencer putting bikes in a positive light.
