Martin Merryweather (Co-Founder)
Actually, quite a lot as it turns out. But we didn’t know that at the start.
When we started building our vision for a business networking cycling community we really needed a name. Like naming your own children, it’s a dauntingly tough process. There is a huge amount of pressure to get it right, and we felt that pressure.
However, we could have spent hours agonising over it, or we could have followed best practice (focus groups, internet research, checking domains, trademarks etc..).
As you’ve probably already guessed... we did none of that.
So why Tullio?
We’re cyclists, so we looked within the history of our own sport. I looked back to a time when my love affair with cycling began.
For me that was 1991. As a slightly overweight teenager who didn't excel in most traditional sports I became a passionate cyclist overnight. I was reading about riders like Fondriest, Argentin, Museeuw and of course watching Indurain win his first Tour De France on Channel 4. I was obsessed. I bought my first Colnago road bike (Lampre colours of course) kitted out with a Campagnolo Chorus groupset in 1993. I loaned the money off my dad and it took me 3 years of race winnings and Saturday jobs to pay him back. That bike is still my pride and joy despite later additions to my stable!
My love of Italian bikes has remained untempered, and my admiration for Campagnolo equipment has never waned. So you can see it didn't take me too long to get to "Tullio Campagnolo". His story is amazing.
Tullio Campagnolo was born in 1901, and became a racing cyclist and an inventor. Not only was he the founder of the component company Campagnolo, he also patented the quick release skewer which was truly revolutionary in the cycling world for many years. His inventions are many, and his innovations challenged the status quo for decades. He continually innovated throughout his career, he never stood still.
In fact, he also worked on lightweight aluminium alloy and magnesium materials for NASA, wheels for major Italian sports car manufacturers and disc brakes for Lambrettas. This is in addition to his work on helicopter rotors and braking systems on GP motorbikes. A true innovator in every sense.
Two of our core values are “Challenge our limits” and “Inspire each other” and we like to think that Tullio Campagnolo epitomises both of these values.
What we didn’t know...
But what came next truly secured the name Tullio. When we looked up the meaning of the name, we were shocked and elated in equal measure to discover:
Tullio is a common Italian male given name of Latin origin, derived from Tullius (meaning "the one who leads"). Other forms of the name are Tulio (Spanish) and Túlio (Portuguese). It has a second meaning that is hill or valley of the hills.
To say we’d lucked out on the perfect name for our cycling community is the understatement of the century. It was a no-brainer.
“Tullio” was born... and now you know why we chose the name.