Products Earn Their Place at Sported

One of the questions we get asked most often is how Sported ended up carrying more than 70 triathlon and endurance brands.

The honest answer is that we never set out to build a range of 70 brands.

When Sported first started, we simply wanted to find products that genuinely helped athletes train better, race better and enjoy the sport more. One product led to another. Conversations led to discoveries. Recommendations led to research. Research led to testing. Before we knew it, our showroom and website were home to more than 70 carefully selected brands.

What has never changed is the process.

We don’t claim to know everything about endurance sport. What we do have is an endless curiosity about products, training methods and equipment that might help athletes improve their experience of the sport.

Every product that finds its way into Sported has a story behind it.

Where It All Started

Our first brand was Runderwear.

I came across the company and ended up speaking directly with founder Jamie Smalley. Around the same time we added STEALTH Advanced Sports Nutrition after seeing it rated highly in Triathlon 220 magazine.

What started as a product discovery quickly developed into a relationship with founder Tim Lawson. Tim is a genuine expert in sports nutrition and his knowledge helped shape some of our early thinking around providing athletes with the best products available for training, racing and recovery.

Through introductions from athletes, coaches and industry contacts we discovered brands such as Naked Sports Innovations, BV Sport, Gipron, VJ Shoes and KitBrix.

Looking back, those early brands established a pattern that continues to this day. Most were discovered through conversations, recommendations and curiosity rather than through traditional distribution channels.

We didn’t start by asking ourselves how many brands we wanted to stock.

We started by asking a much simpler question:

"Would this help our customers?"

Listening To Athletes

Sometimes the best product ideas come directly from athletes.

A good example is the Feedback Sports Omnium portable trainer.

During a conversation with local professional triathlete Luke Matthews, he asked whether we stocked the Feedback Sports trainer. At the time, we didn’t.

That simple question sent us down a research rabbit hole.

What we discovered was a product that had become one of the most popular portable trainers in the world and the go-to warm-up trainer for professional triathletes and cyclists before races. We brought it into the UAE and it has since become one of our most successful product lines.

Luke also pointed us towards Wove saddles. Once again, a recommendation sparked our interest, but it was only after further research, discussions and testing that we decided to bring the product into Sported.

Sometimes athletes don’t introduce us to a new product; they help validate our thinking.

When we were looking to expand our swimwear offering, one of our coaching athletes, a former collegiate swimmer in the United States, helped confirm our view that Jolyn would be an excellent addition to the Sported range.

Having spent thousands of hours in the pool and used a wide variety of swimwear brands, she provided valuable insight into what serious swimmers look for in terms of fit, comfort and durability. Her experience helped validate our thinking and gave us additional confidence in the decision.

Sometimes the best product decisions happen when your own research is reinforced by the experience of the athletes around you.

Learning From Coaches And Training Camps

Some of our best discoveries have come from coaches and training camps.

Brett Sutton introduced us to the Lever Movement System, a clever product designed to reduce loading on the joints and help runners and triathletes remain consistent during injury rehabilitation.

As someone who has spent most of his adult life around endurance sport, I have learned that when experienced coaches recommend something, it is worth paying attention.

Trisutto training camps have also been a rich source of ideas.

It was through the Trisutto environment that we were introduced to products such as the Eney Pull Buoy, DMC Fins and Arena Net Paddles. Sometimes you see products being used day after day by athletes and coaches and realise there may be something worth exploring.

One of the benefits of being actively involved in the sport is that you see what athletes are actually using rather than simply what is being advertised.

Listening To Customers

Sometimes customers tell us exactly what they need.

The decision to stock BikeBox Alan came after repeatedly seeing athletes asking where they could rent or buy quality bike boxes in the UAE.

The same principle led us to create a fleet of demo wetsuits. Finding the correct wetsuit size can be difficult and we felt athletes deserved the opportunity to try before they buy.

In both cases, the products weren’t selected because they were fashionable.

They were selected because they solved a genuine problem.

Over the years we have learned that some of the best business ideas come from listening carefully to the frustrations and challenges that athletes face.

Listening To Manufacturers

Manufacturers are often an excellent source of knowledge.

Last summer I asked Q36.5 which cycling sock they would recommend for riding in the UAE summer when feet swell during long rides in extreme heat.

Their recommendation was the ultra-light Clima Sock and it has proved to be an excellent choice.

This year I asked for their recommendations on jerseys and bib shorts designed for hot weather riding and have been hugely impressed by the Dottore Clima range.

The people designing products often have insights that are worth listening to.

Following Curiosity

Sometimes there isn’t a recommendation or a customer request.

Sometimes curiosity takes over.

We first came across TriRig through a marketing email.

That led us to research the company, its products and the brands it worked with. In doing so we discovered BiSaddle, a company producing highly adjustable saddles designed to help athletes achieve a more comfortable and aerodynamic riding position.

One discovery led to another and eventually to products finding their way into Sported.

Trade shows such as ISPO have played a similar role over the years.

The endurance world is surprisingly interconnected. Often one conversation leads to another, one brand introduces another and one idea sparks the next.

When Timing Matters

Sometimes a product is right but the timing isn’t.

EZ Gains is a perfect example.

I first met founder Clinton Butcher at Ironman 70.3 Dubai shortly after Covid. We discussed his products and the aerodynamic benefits they could offer athletes, particularly the disc wheel cover.

At the time, however, neither of us was quite ready.

Sported was focused on navigating the post-Covid environment and Clinton’s business was still in the early stages of development.

Fast forward to 2025 and everything had changed.

The products had matured, manufacturing capacity had expanded and Clinton was now in a position to support international distributors. At the same time we were receiving enquiries from athletes in the UAE looking for exactly the sort of aerodynamic performance gains that EZ Gains could provide.

This time everything aligned.

Today EZ Gains has become one of our most popular product ranges and is increasingly being used by both age-group and professional athletes.

The experience reinforced another lesson we have learned over the years:

Finding a great product is only part of the story. Sometimes success comes from recognising when the timing is right.

Products We Simply Believe In

Not every product arrives through a recommendation.

Sometimes a product simply catches our attention because it solves a problem in a clever and practical way.

Stashed bike storage systems are a good example.

As cyclists and retailers, we are always looking for better ways to store bikes safely and efficiently. When we came across the Stashed system, we immediately saw the potential.

In fact, we liked the product so much that we installed it in our own showroom to store our rental bike fleet.

To date, we haven’t sold huge numbers of Stashed systems to end users, which probably says more about our marketing than it does about the product itself.

It remains one of those products that we genuinely believe in because we use it ourselves every day.

Sometimes the best endorsement is simply putting a product into your own business and seeing how well it performs.

Working With Founder-Led Businesses

Over the years we have also discovered that we enjoy working with businesses that look a little bit like Sported.

Many of our favourite brands are founder-led businesses built around a genuine passion for solving a problem rather than simply selling a product.

LifeJacket is a great example.

I was looking for a better sunscreen product and came across a "best on test" review for LifeJacket sun cream. That review led to a conversation with one of the founders, Jono Sumner.

During that conversation I learned that Jono had previously contracted skin cancer and that LifeJacket had been created with a very simple mission: helping to stop the increase in skin cancer through better sun protection and education.

That is a powerful story.

As endurance athletes, many of us spend countless hours training and racing in the sun. Suddenly this wasn’t just another sunscreen product. It was a business with a purpose and a mission that resonated strongly with us.

We find ourselves drawn to brands like that.

Founder-led businesses often bring a level of passion, authenticity and innovation that can be difficult to replicate. Whether it is Jamie Smalley at Runderwear, Tim Lawson at STEALTH, Clinton Butcher at EZ Gains, Jono Sumner at LifeJacket or many of the other founders we have met over the years, the people behind the products are often just as interesting as the products themselves.

Premium And Exclusive

There is one final test that many products must pass before they find their way into Sported.

Do they align with our focus on premium and, where possible, exclusive products?

We are not trying to be a general sports retailer.

We want to provide athletes with access to products, brands and innovations that they may not easily find elsewhere.

Many of the brands we work with are specialist endurance brands. Some are exclusive to Sported within the UAE. Others are premium products that are not widely distributed through traditional retail channels.

That doesn’t mean expensive for the sake of being expensive. It means products that offer genuine value, innovation, quality or performance benefits.

Whether it is BikeBox Alan, Blue70, STEALTH Advanced Sports Nutrition, TriRig, EZ Gains, Wove, Feedback Sports, LifeJacket or many of the other brands we stock, we are constantly looking for products that stand out from the mainstream.

One of the things we enjoy most is introducing athletes to brands they may never have heard of before.

In many cases, you simply won’t find these products in other sports retailers in Dubai.

Not Everything Makes The Cut

Perhaps the most important thing is that not every product earns a place on our shelves.

Over the years we have looked at hundreds of products and opportunities.

Ice baths are one example.

While many athletes swear by them, we are not yet convinced that they should form a core part of our offering. We continue to follow the research and keep an open mind, but for now we have chosen to focus our attention elsewhere.

We have also stopped stocking products that we genuinely liked when they no longer aligned with our focus.

Maui Jim sunglasses are an excellent example.

We remain huge fans of the brand and still believe they make some of the finest sunglasses available. However, as Sported became increasingly focused on triathlon and endurance sport, performance eyewear from Rudy Project became a better fit for our customers’ needs.

Warren Buffett once said he never invested in businesses he didn’t understand.

We take a similar approach to product selection.

If we don’t understand a product, can’t explain its benefits or wouldn’t recommend it to a fellow athlete, training partner or coaching client, it is unlikely to find a place on our shelves.

This Brings Us Back To The Sported Mission

Looking back, there is no single formula behind the products we stock.

Some arrive through customer requests. Others through conversations with professional athletes, coaches and manufacturers. Some come from trade shows and industry events. Others simply catch our attention because they solve a problem in an elegant way.

What they all have in common is that they have earned their place.

Every product in Sported has a story behind it and every one has been chosen with the goal of helping endurance athletes train, race and recover more effectively.

Our mission is simple:

To provide an invaluable resource for training, racing and recovery through active collaboration with fellow athletes, experts and professionals in their field.

To encourage an active lifestyle.

Everything we do, from the brands we choose to the advice we give, is guided by that mission.

More than 70 brands later, we’re still learning, still listening and still discovering new ideas.

And that’s one of the things we enjoy most about what we do.

By David Hunt certified TriSutto coach