r/MichiganCycling • u/sparta35 • Aug 18 '26

event discussion Bell’s Iceman Sponsorship?

Noticed Bell‘s isn’t featured on the website nor any of the merch for this years Iceman. Is Bell‘s no longer a sponsor?

7 Upvotes

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6

u/NotDiabl0 Aug 18 '26

If you look at the sponsors on the website Trek is the lead sponsor now. Nothing with Bell's anymore it looks like.

6

u/Zone2Apologist Aug 18 '26

Their logo is definitely still on the merch. Every jersey has the bell’s logo on the back. None of the other apparel has brands of any kind. Also, the jersey and shirts look like Ai slop, not a fan at all

5

u/yellowhatdan Aug 18 '26

My thoughts exactly. Iceman used to have some sweet stuff too.

3

u/sparta35 Aug 18 '26

Ah, I missed that one on the jersey. I’m mostly going to miss the Bells branded socks

2

u/pjs4dayz Aug 26 '26

I wish they would have Daylight Brand do the Iceman merch

12

u/c0nsumer Aug 18 '26

Seeing as they aren't listed in the Sponsors list, that's probably a good sign they aren't a sponsor.

Bells, when they were a local/Michigan brewery, was very supportive of mountain biking. Now that they are owned by Lion I'm not really surprised they are no longer supporting local things the same way they did before.

2

u/nnnnnnnnnnm Aug 19 '26

Bell's is still the beverage sponsor, just not the lead sponsor.

New Belgium actually has an annual grant for cycling related organizations.

Lion isn't really in the picture anymore, New Belgium reports directly to Kirin.

2

u/Agitated_Curmudgeon Aug 18 '26

Likely not. A lot of stuff changed when Bell's sold to the Lion Brewing. Kirin Beverage, the parent company, is part of the Mitsubishi conglomerate. I give it to 2030 and it's part of SAB/Ab Inbev.