NYC Velo - New York City (NYC) Bike Shop

Andrew, owner. Andrew has 20 years experience as a road, mountain bike, and cyclocross racer. His attraction to the sport began in 1989 after watching Greg Lemond come from behind in the last stage of the Tour de France to win by the closest margin in history. Greg’s performance, along with those of Andy Hampsten, Sean Kelly, and Lance Armstrong, inspired his cycling career. Andrew raced for his collegiate cycling team and Independent Fabrication, as well as teams in Houston, Omaha, and New York City. He has raced in dozens of states throughout the country, from California to New York. Andrew has been active in cycling advocacy since the beginning of his career including participating in the 2000 Journey of Hope, a 2-month, 3800 mile bike trek from San Francisco to Washington, D.C to benefit people with disabilities. As a bike shop owner, Andrew believes in philanthropy and is a committed sponsor of the Journey of Hope. NYC Velo also supports Transportation Alternatives and encourages regular bicycle commuting.

Andrew graduated from Texas A&M with an engineering degree. Upon arriving in NYC, he took on the streets as a bike messenger. He then went on to work for several years as a management consultant specializing in supply chain management throughout the country, always keeping his home base as NYC. In 2004, Andrew’s love of the city brought him back home full time. He spent some time with a well-known Manhattan shop before venturing out on his own. Andrew’s passion for cycling of all types and his desire to create the most customer friendly shop in the city led him to open NYC Velo.

Justin King, Having lived in some of the top cycling towns - including Boston and most recently San Francisco - Justin has returned to his native New York and become our newest member. From fabricating custom road bikes for Ben Serotta to building mountain bike trails for NORBA races, Justin is as comfortable on asphalt as he is on dirt. When he's not at the shop, he's at his studio in Brooklyn with a strong cup of coffee (French press, natch) working on various photography projects and geeking out over topography. Stop in and say 'Howdy!'

Chris Feltman, Chris summed up his first ride in NYC by saying,"It's just like riding at home, but the trees move!" Chris moved to NYC from the Berkshires of Western MA in December 2005 to pursue a career in Geotechnical Engineering. It wasn't long before he needed to be amongst bikes and those who ride them. He started part time at NYC Velo after recovering from a St Patty's Day bender, but after only a few short months, he knew he'd much rather be riding the streets of NYC than driving anywhere else.

Dave Sommerville, David started his sporting lifestyle at the age of 6 and has been in motion ever since. He found his love of bicycle racing at age 14 and never looked back. He has over 1,500 Bicycle races under his belt and ridden in excess of 120,000 miles... and that was years ago!! He is a category 1 road racer and cyclocross racer as well as a category 2 track racer, who has traveled the world to race his bike, including: China, Macau, Spain, Thialand, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Malaysia and Canada among others. In 2001 David started Sommerville Sports, which grew to become one of the most successful international cycling programs residing in the United States. Aside form running his own team, he has also coached at the USA Olympic Festival and is a former Midwest Regional Junior Coach, where he trained numerous riders to great success. David also brings his wrench skills, honed on his years of cycling experience. He is currently our acting Service Manager at Velo... we are lucky to have him!!

Roselvert "Pollo" Marte Pollo esta en la casa, Pollo es muy fuerte, and... Pollo is the latest racer to join our crew of wrenches. An experienced mechanic as well as a Cat 1 cyclist, Pollo rides for the fabled GS Mengoni Team.

Chris Harris grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC; he began riding mountain bikes in 1998. Since, he has become convinced that bicycles, and particularly custom bicycles, can make one's life much better than it would be otherwise. He now rides all kinds, but prefers those brazed from ferrous metals. If it's music, it's Bach, sometimes Mozart, Verdi and the Russians. He currently writes, revises and compiles poems in order to complete his master's thesis in creative writing from George Mason University. He's married and has two dogs, lives in Washington Heights

Chad Selberg was lucky enough to grow up in the MPLS/612 Minneapolis bike culture scene. He is a former
Minneapolis Bike Messenger and 5 time CMWC finalist. Chad has been riding a fixie since 1994, and in 1997 he built a pimped-out Pinnarello track bike with Phil Wood hubs, yellow Velocity rims, and a ROACH top tube protector. Chad now lives in Brooklyn with his girlfriend Pit and son Magnus. If you want to hear about the history of top tube protectors, come in and he'll tell you how it all went down.

Tony arrived in NYC in 2008 from Boulder, Colorado. His roots are in Mountain biking and dirt jumping. Every chance he gets he heads back west ride Rocky Mountain single track or explore the desert trails of Moab, UT. When in NYC you can find Tony ridding around on his single speed searching for the best Mexican restaurant (one that serves southwestern green chili).

Giotto is a relatively recent arrival at NYC Velo, and she has immediately established herself as the most productive member of our staff. Keeping the salesguys, wrenches and tired customers caffeinated all day is no easy task, but Giotta handles it with style. She is a limited edition model (62/100), sporting the winners of every Giro d'Italia on her sexy chrome exterior. She produces beautiful crema all day, and can handle short, single, and double shots non c'è problema. Stop in, give her a wink and a smile, and she'll make your day.

Mini Mazzer We brought on "the Mazz" to serve as a loyal sidekick to Giotto. He grinds beans all day from the likes of DeLa Paz, Blue Bottle, Stumptown, and more, without complaint. When Giotto first saw him, she said "You had me at Mini..."

The Bullpen - Past/semi-regular employees who pitch in from time to time.

Brett Cleaver, Brett, one of former salesguys, has a bio that can be summed up almost entirely in URLs:
Races for Rapha Racing NYC
DJs as DJ Clever
Runs a record label
Is a partner in Breakbeat Science
In addition, Brett has boldly sported both a squirrel mullet and a rattail (the former which we believe he invented).
Brett will be working at the Rapha Cycle Club for part of the summer, before he ties the knot and heads on his cross country honeymoon.

Will Howkinson, Will started turning wrenches in Berkeley, CA when Santa Cruz Tazmons, WTB Phoenixes, and Bontrager Race Lites were the bikes to have. His gear-head resume covers years of experience in the Bay Area, including time wrenching at Medina Cycleworks (aka Wrenchscience). Strangely enough though, Will claims to have never owned any purple anodized gear.

After cycling (read "suffering") the Great Divide Route during the summer of 2005, Will was bitten yet again by the bike bug and now rides the local trails as much as he can. He will also be making appearances on the regional DH racing circuit, so keep an eye out for the tall guy with the fierce race grimace.

Mike Spriggs, Mike is a longtime resident of the East Village and a former bike messenger in Boston. An avid roadie and all-around Euro-bike-phile, you can usually find Mike in the neighborhood, either thinking up new t-shirt ideas for Gage & DeSoto, or managing the affairs of the Rapha Cycle Club.

Ethan Benton, Ethan "Laek" Benton is a lifetime resident of the Northeast and has lived in NYC for 7+ years. An all-around cyclist, Ethan loves bikes of any kind - from the sleek roadbike to the burly MTB to the fendered commuter. A creative and easily distracted sort, he channels his energies into Laek House, a small and growing clothing company.

Jason Kachadourian, Hailing from the mean streets of Baltimore (yes, he's seen The Wire) and raised on crabs and Old Bay, Jason is a demon with a wrench. Equally as knowledgable about bicycles as about the subjective linear progression of art, Jason is a dynamic part of NYC Velo. The rest of the staff tries in vain to keep his iPod away from the speakers, lest they end up listening to music that sounds like the 6 train coming through Union Square station. His humor gets us through the day and he will surely entertain you as he fixes your fixie.

Keegan Schelling, Growing up in beautiful Berkshire county MA, the mountains have literally been his backyard where he forged countless trails and jumps. At 16 he apprenticed as a mechanic at The Spoke near his hometown. After five years, Keegan was ready to join the NYC Velo, possessing knowledge and experience far beyond his 21 years. In between the occassional bike vs. car showdown, Keegan plays bass in jazz fusion bands, and is a freelance sound recordist. Plus, he's a rapper.

Henry Baker II, A giant of a man, Hank's baritone voice will lull you into a state of bliss; the words he strings together paint pictures so vivid you won't remember that you came into a bike shop for a flat tire repair. Hank stands 6'6" and we have reason to believe that he is the tallest bike mechanic in New York State, and perhaps the world. Hank was born and raised in NYC and spends his spare time touring by bike, smoking pork shoulder and preparing turducken.

Mary Arida, Mary is from Boston (read: Milton) MA. She has worked at shops in Allston and Cambridge, MA before moving to the big city and landing her gig at NYC Velo. She digs working at shops where she can not only continue her bicycle education, but also practice her Spanish, so working alongside Pollo is a pretty good fit. If she's not at the shop she's probably riding around Brooklyn looking for shortcuts (have you seen how big Brooklyn is?), painting, or learning about food production and urban planning.

Ishmael Ubiles, Ish (as he's known around the shop) was introduced to bikes by his Dad at the tender age of six. In the ensuing years, Ish has acquired many different rides and is generally the first in the shop to try out the newest bike craze. Currently topping his list are 29er mountain bikes - like his beloved Bianchi Rita singlespeed. And while it's true that Ish likes to throw out intimidating terms like "head angle", "increased contact patch", and "kick butt descents", don't let that scare you - he's actually a big softie.

Jared Bunde, Jared is our resident pro - on and off the bike. A Cat 1 road and track racer, Jared can usually be found in the service area talking racing, discussing his latest nutrition class, or munching on organic produce from the Park Slope Food Co-op.