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OLD PHOTOS
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E-CIGARETTES MIGHT HELP SMOKERS QUIT
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KEEPS ROLLING
SUBURBAN PAGE 17 NATION PAGE 7 SPORTS PAGE 11
Cognition Cyclery
San Mateos Ultimate Bike Store
ne could be forgiven for thinking
that Taylor Kopf was the summer
intern at Cognition Cyclery, rather
than the founder and CEO.
The business is so polished. Things run so
smoothly. How could this kid be in charge
of such a finely-tuned machine?
To be fair, even at 29, Kopf looks younger
than he is, but if youre looking for the boss,
even his employees jokingly tell you to
look for the really young guy. Besides, if
youre living on the Peninsula, you know
that when it comes to business, 30 is the
new 50.
Kopf and Cognition Cyclery are prime
examples of the Bay Areas new generation
of young, ambitious entrepreneurs tapping
this markets abundant resources to build
exciting new businesses from the ground
up.
In the middle of Silicon Valley, during one
of the worst economic climates the U.S. has
ever seen, he decided to start a bike shop. Kopf is a savvy businessman, and he saw a out two weeks in advance. Cognition Cyclery not just a place for
Like, an actual, physical bike shop huge gap in the high-end bicycle market Fit has become recognized as being more people who want to buy bikes, but a place
without an online retail presence. In 2010, between his Mountain View store and San important than it ever used to be, Kopf for bike culture to exist, expand, and thrive.
still working his way through college as a Francisco. Having spent most of his life on said. People are recognizing the health What that culture looks like is anyones
bike store employee, Kopf signed a lease on the Mid-Peninsula, he figured downtown benefits, the injury prevention its guess, but e-bikes will definitely be at the
a retail space in Mountain View to start his San Mateo for the perfect up-and-coming definitely become a much bigger part of our forefront as the technology advances, the
own business. neighborhood to fill that gap. business, and we want people to be offerings increase, the prices go down, and
We started out with like 20 bikes on the Thanks to a unique partnership with comfortable and have a good time when more people are able to access these new
floor, Kopf said. People thought we were Specialized Bicycles, Cognition was able to they are riding. rides.
a modern art museum. expand into what is now the largest bike What exactly is a fitting session? Were in a really difficult to explain era
That was our Launchpad for slowly and shop on the West Coast by square footage A proper fitting is one of those with bicycle retail right now, Kopf said.
organically growing the business to the and yet remains through and through the experiences you can only get by going to a The sport as a whole is more popular then
point where we started to see the ceiling of vision of Kopf and his team. place that dedicates space to that, Kopf ever with a bunch of new segments. Gravel
what the business could do in terms of the Brands like Specialized, they see tons of said. And working with our fitters is a road is new, and thats taking off.
volume of bikes we could fit in the space, value in brick and mortar, tons of value in super cool experience Its all over the Bikepacking is taking off. Of course road
Kopf explained. About five years after that being able to interact with the community at map. As simple as a half hour, I need to and mountain have been growing little by
we started to think maybe we should do that level, Kopf said of the manufacturers figure out where my seat height is supposed little in the last 15 years, and now were
another store. investment in locally owned bike stores. to be, to us using 3D motion capture seeing all time highs for female cyclists.
OK, so Cognition is not the first bike store The new space affords Kopf and his team systems to pinpoint down to the millimeter Kopf feels that the onus is on us that are
in the neighborhood, but it is the first of its the ability to continue adding more and every sizing aspect of a bike. So anywhere still thriving in retail to find brands,
kind in the neighborhood. Neither is Kopf more to the experience factor. from half an hour invested by the customer equipment, and product mixes that represent
the first entrepreneur to start a brick and Cognition has invested $100,000 in fitting to three and a half hours. the best in the industry, as well as evolving
mortar retail space, but he is of an tools, tech, and staff, for example, and those With the Mountain View store being what it means to be a bike store in order to
increasingly rare breed here in the Bay. fittings are so popular that they are booking awarded as one of the top 15 Specialized maintain the brick and mortar bike culture.
retailers in the world (they do sell other In the heart of the tech industry, where
brands, by the way, including Cervlo online is king, that is a heavy burden for
Featured and Niner), and the San Mateo store fast such young shoulders, but Kopf and
Products approaching the same numbers, Cognition Cognition are more than ready for the road
is all about the future. ahead, and downtown San Mateo is lucky
In a few years time, the Cognition team is enough to be along for the ride.
4URBO 6ADO hoping to have a
The new flagship line third location in the
of Specialized Pedal Bay Area that will
Assist electric bikes expand the
brings the fun and
convenience of experience factor
cycling to everyone. even more, making
Touchscreen Mission
Control and Bluetooth
connectivity. 4(% #/'