Leatt adds new key positions in expanding global mountain bike market
Leatt has reinforced its sales and marketing team with two key industry professionals, Bastian Dietz and Dain Zaffke.
Dietz and Zaffke will focus on the Mountain Biking (MTB) market. Dietz will serve as Leatt’s International Marketing Manager, MTB, focusing on growing the company’s presence in the international MTB market, and Zaffke will focus on the domestic MTB market as VP of Sales and Marketing, MTB.
Leatt CEO, Sean Macdonald, remarked, “With these two strategic positions, Leatt is investing in the continued success of its MTB business, which has become a promising growth area for the brand and company. While many of our competitors appear to be pulling back, we see this moment as a great opportunity to strive for a surge in market share in key areas. With their fantastic experience and infectious passion for riding, adding Bastian and Dain to our already powerhouse team will bring a new level of focus to our mountain biking business and allow Leatt to truly level up!”
Dietz, who is based in Munich, Germany has served in the bicycle industry since 2007 and returns to Leatt after a five-year break. Prior to joining Leatt, Dietz served at the marketing agency, Rasoulution GmbH Marketing & Kommunikationsagentur, where he helped build its public relations department, and he supported MTB race series organizers and sporting goods manufacturers. As International Marketing Manager at ION, a brand of Boards & More Gmbh, he helped launch the former watersports only brand in the global cycling segment, as he served as the Director of Global Business Development for SQlab GmbH. Dietz is also credited for helping build the bicycle category at the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA MOBILITY) trade show, one of the world’s largest mobility trade fairs.
“I have been following Leatt’s impressive brand and product development very closely,” said Dietz. “Within five years, Leatt’s business growth and MTB brand momentum have been very impressive. I look forward to helping grow the MTB business.”
Based in Santa Cruz, California, Zaffke will oversee all sales and marketing efforts related to the MTB business in the United States and will also contribute to brand strategy on a global level. Zaffke has more than two decades of bike industry experience, both as a racer, he has competed in cross country (XC), endurance (Enduro), and downhill racing at an elite level, including gravel and road riding, and in product development and sales and marketing positions. Prior to joining Leatt, Zaffke served for over ten years as Giro’s Senior Director of Marketing, and prior to that in sales and marketing positions at WTB Partners, LLC (Wilderness Trail Bikes) and Easton Cycling, a brand now owned by Fox Factory Holding Corp., and as a gear editor with Bike magazine.
“I am thrilled to join the Leatt family,” said Zaffke. “Leatt has a powerful mix of innovation and style, plus a clear purpose rooted in an authentic desire to protect and serve riders’ needs. These values align perfectly with my own, and I see a great opportunity to continue growing the Leatt brand.”
