What comes to mind when you think of DJs, paint spills, and dinosaurs? It's probably not cycling.
But then again Alec Briggs, and his iconic cycling team TEKKERZ CC - short for TEKKERZ Cycling Charisma - are anything but ordinary. We've invited the DJ-turned-crit-cyclist to take over SunGod Explore, and share the story behind cycling's coolest team.
Meet Alec and discover the design process behind our most eye-catching sunglasses yet.
Let's talk TEKKERZ.
We started out in 2018 as a grassroots crit team and things have exploded since then. We've got riders racing in everything from London crits to ultras like Further Pyrenees, and the talent just keeps coming. We've got Tandem World Champion Jenny Holl, Scratch and Kilo Champion Joe Hold, British Gravel Champion Jacob Vaughan... the list goes on.
From the development of young talent, to creating designs that stand out, to presenting it all in a way that engages people outside of cycling and helps it all to grow; at the end of the day, TEKKERZ is simply my take on cycling.
The story behind the design... and how TEKKERZ got a dinosaur onto a pair of SunGods.
First up, I spent a long time choosing a colour palette that I thought looked pretty cool together, something that could become iconic. Then I just poured paint in the shape of cycling jerseys until I eventually found something that worked!
When it came to the SunGod sunglasses design, we decided to take it up a level. I figured pouring paint over my head with the glasses on would bring out a pretty cool design, and the process would grab people’s attention from all corners. I guess it turned out alright innit?
As for the lens, the whole TEKKERZ crew are always racing a variety of disciplines in different light conditions. We often start crit races which start at dusk and end in the night, or we race in the blazing sunlight and then into the shade of the trees off-road, so we need a lens that can adapt to those conditions. The Iris™ Smoke photochromic lens is perfect - in fact I haven’t used anything else in a year.
And as for theT Rex lens engraving, I think the way pro cycling names itself after its sponsors is pretty stupid. It reduces a team's legacy. So I thought if I made my team a name that would never change, with a logo like a dinosaur just for the fun of it, that would help us stick around. You tell me which team a kid getting into cycling is going to want to support…
TEKKERZ Top Picks: The Ones to Watch
Everyone on the team has their own individual purpose, and each one of their goals and growth towards that goal is just as important as the next. It’s hard to argue with Benji [Tuchner]’s form winning our first crit of the year, and Amy Perryman is hungry. Joe [Holt] won 2 national titles in his first 2 races for the team! Like, who does that?
Oli Mangham is going to reap the rewards of his hard work any day now. Nimai [Inniss] is about to impress himself with what he’s capable of achieving on a bike. Jacob [Vaughan] has been ripping all our legs off all winter training, I’m sure he’ll be doing that national gravel champs jersey proud. As for Jenny [Holl], I’m pretty sure she could win whatever she decided she wanted to win, a total boss I’m in constant awe of. So take your pick and follow their journey, I’ll do my best to present it this year like never before.
"Dream-living, next-level stuff"
Having a TEKKERZ design on a pair of SunGods is dream-living, next-level stuff. SunGod are doing things right. For the user, for the environment - working with a B Corp company says it all really. Oh and the lenses, they’re so good! It’s pretty cool I can walk into the office in London and discuss world takeover with the team. It’s a company run by good people and I feel their products reflect their good energy and ambitions.
It’s pretty amazing we’ve built TEKKERZ into a strong enough brand to have the honour of being on a pair of SunGods. It’s great because it’s a genuine way of bringing together our audiences. Those are the partnerships I’m interested in - the ones that help each other grow - not just the ones that involve us taking from our partners, like I feel cycling so often does.
TEKKERZ Goes Global
But yeah, this is just the start. This year TEKKERZ is going global. I’m going to tell stories that attract new readers. We’re going to think differently about how we as a cycling team offer entertainment to the people that want to take as little or as much as they want from us. I want everyone to feel like they can enjoy a piece of us and our journey.
For example, I’ve been meaning to set up an art exhibition for the design process and results of TEKKERZ… I think it’d be cool to just plonk it somewhere and not make it obvious it's born from cycling. I wanna just see how people interact with it, and you know, maybe we’ll pick up some new cycling fans along the way too.
So there you have it; a view from inside TEKKERZ, the team that manages to be serious about changing the cycling industry, without taking itself too seriously. Guided by Alec, the team's young talent is already bagging podiums wherever you look, and as Alec says, this is just the start. Follow the team's journey at @tekkerzcc.
