At Fanttik, we believe the most trustworthy gear comes from the people who actually use it. Today, we are proud to announce that Fanttik has officially partnered with professional mountain bike racing duo SYD and MACKY as brand ambassadors.
Macky Franklin started riding bikes when his family moved to Taos, New Mexico, at age 13, and began racing a couple of years later at 15. Over the next few years, he raced his way up the rankings and eventually earned his pro card in 2006 — which means this year marks two decades of racing at the elite level.
Syd Schulz grew up riding bikes in Ohio before moving to competitive cross-country running in high school. She was planning to run in college, but a foot injury sidelined her. She got back into riding bikes and started racing on the college cycling team. The two met while racing for the cycling team at Middlebury College in Vermont. Once they'd both graduated, they decided to commit to their dream of being professional bike racers.
For seven years (2014–2021), they lived out of a van, driving around the US to races and flying to international races on various other continents. In 2018, they launched their YouTube channel to provide a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to race bikes for a living. Since then, they've made it their goal to race the best and most challenging races around the world in a variety of disciplines — everything from cross-country to enduro to marathon to stage races — and share those adventures with their audience. Their channel now has over 127,000 subscribers and more than 29 million total views.
Macky has been racing at the elite level since 2006 in a variety of mountain bike disciplines, with multiple podium finishes at USA National Championships and 20+ career Enduro World Series starts.
Syd is one of the first three women to finish the Marji Gesick 100 in under 12 hours (2025), with podium finishes across a variety of disciplines in the last few years, and has been racing at the elite level for over a decade.
Syd and Macky are the kind of people who manage their own repairs, logistics, and media production. They understand that being professional athletes also means being professional partners to their sponsors. They also want people to see that everyone fails sometimes — and that's okay. The important thing is to learn from the failure and keep trying.
That's exactly why Fanttik chose to work with them. We admire not just their racing achievements, but the way they approach the sport — authentic, dedicated, and without limits.
Their journey continues. This year, they'll be racing Mountain of Hell and Megavalanche again, continuing to test their limits on some of the toughest courses in the world. And we're honored to be part of their equipment along the way.
Fanttik's bike pump products are designed for exactly this kind of real-world riding. Whether it's the Fanttik X10 Ace Mini at just 0.26 lbs, or the Fanttik X11 Ace Mini with 21-second fast inflation, they're built to solve the most practical problem on the road or trail — getting tyre pressure back to where it needs to be, quickly and accurately, then getting back to the ride. For riders like Syd and Macky, who are constantly travelling, racing, and managing their own gear, a reliable, portable tool that doesn't get in the way is part of the journey itself.
To follow more of Syd and Macky's adventures, visit their YouTube channel.
To learn more about Fanttik's bike pump products, visit fanttik.