Gaerne Shoes Now Available through US distributor BTI

July 22nd, 2010 2:42pm

(Santa Fe, NM - April 13, 2009) "Bolstering our road category was a big focus for us at last year's Interbike," said BTI's purchasing manager, Seth Graves. According to Graves the decision to carry Gaerne involved some weighing of risk.

Gaerne, manufacturer of premium Italian footwear is still fairly unknown to much of the US market.Â "In the end the quality of their cycling shoes really won us over. We realize we have some brand-building to do domestically, but Gaerne gives our dealers access to a comprehensive offering that we feel sets a new standard for quality and fit.

Gaerne has something for nearly every category of performance cyclist." Made in Italy, not just designed in Italy. Many consumers, cyclists especially, are becoming more conscious about where their dollars are spent, they want to know where their products are coming from and whether sweatshop labor is being used to unfairly create profits. Gaerne is one of those companies that embodies the best in traditional handmade Italian footwear design. Gaerne's pedigree stretches back some 40 years to its founding by Ernesto Gazzola. Gazzola, a shoemaker specializing in hiking boots, transitioned to making footwear for motocross in the 1970s, and later developed shoes for cycling.

Unlike competitors who have sold out or outsourced production to distant parts of the world, Gaerne shoes are still, in fact, made in Italia. The Gaerne factory today employs no less than 12 staff members who have worked with the company for at least 25 years.

Today Gaerne serves up footwear in a number of categories; motocross comprises half of Gaerne's output, cyclist footwear another 35% (to give some perspective, that's about 80,000 pairs per year), and the company still produces some of the world's best traditional hiking boots. Gaerne is not a company to rest on its laurels, and its shoes are anything but plain and traditional, with designs that fully embrace the modern Italian aesthetic.

The company continues to push innovation with technologies like its A.I.C.S. Adjustable Instep Closure system, patented Heel Grip and women's specific geometries. Endorsements Last year Gaerne chose Austrailian professional cyclist Cadel Evans to be its brand ambassador. Evans, a perennial favorite at the Tour de France, took second place in both the 2007 and 2008 events. Gaerne celebrated his achievements with its G Kangaroo Limited Edition shoe. Gaerne's complete line of footwear can be viewed at www.gaerne.com