The news of Sule Kangangi's tragic passing whilst competing in the Vermont Overland gravel race shook the gravel community. Not only was he a competitive racer but the team captain of Team Amani, a project focused on increasing opportunities for East African cyclists.
The collection consists of POC's best gravel bike helmet the Ventral Air helmet and Aspire eyewear with custom colorways that reflect the riders and the countries that they come from. When designing the kit for Team Amani, POC realized that a single color wouldn't represent the individuality of each of the riders. Instead, riders choose their own colors with each helmet being personalized further by adding their national flag.
Team Amani manager Mikel Delagrange said, “Our Amani team helmets and eyewear are very special and represent much more than performance or protection. Along with the team, Sule was at the heart of the design which was created to give the team a consistency and still offer each rider a uniqueness and ability to fly their national flag. We have been racing in them for some time and take great pride in what they stand for. And now, on top of that, they are a connection to Sule that we want to share with everyone as we know he would be overjoyed seeing our team supported and our helmets and eyewear ridden all around the globe.”
All proceeds from the limited-edition collection will go towards the continued support of the Amani project and team, to help East African riders and give them the opportunities to race and show the world their talent on a level playing field.
The helmets will be available in a variety of colors (Sulphite Yellow, Moldanite Green, Prismane Red, Natrium Blue, Uranium Black, hydrogen White) and will include decals of the flags of Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, which are the home countries for the AMANI team riders. US and Australian flags will also be included to highlight the positive contributions of Amani team manager Mikel Delagrange and longtime supporter Lachlan Morton. The sunglasses have been designed in matching colors to compliment the helmets.
The collection will be available exclusively from POCsports.com and will retail for €260 for the Ventral Air MIPS Amani ED and €199 for the Aspire Amani ED.
