Today we tick off year number 3 for BumsOnTheSaddle Jayanagar!
It’s been a fantastic ride and this is a great opportunity to thank all of you who believed in us, stood by us and make us what we are today.
Thank you.
Moving BOTS from a part-time-bike-shop-on-the-roof-top to a full-time-job was scary. It was a massive step as most people constantly told me I was nuts to quit a cushy IT job to become a business owner of a bicycle store.
In all honesty the move was a leap of faith. Nikhil and I had run BOTS since 2006 and it was either this or wrapping up as we were headed no where. My gut told me that we had unknowingly built something too valuable to give up on and I decide to take the plunge.
As of today we have a great team and are working with the best in the cycling industry across the world. We are living our goal of “inspiring cycling” in everything we do, living our passion and getting other people to enjoy what we enjoy. A long way to go still, but the wheels are rolling fast!
THE MOVE ITSELF
The terrace-to-street move in 2011 was a magical experience that was done true BOTS style. An email to the community asking for help had a bunch of riders land up with a truck and we moved the entire lot of bikes and accessories to the new setup.
And BOTS Jayanagar was declared open in a few hours. That simple.
Rider involvement is something I constantly focus on. It’s tricky – how do we involve riders at BOTS without coming across like we are looking for free labour. Tom Sawyer is not our role model here.
Although we could have hired professionals who would have efficiently moved everything we chose to involve riders. How they did it – they took time, had a lot of discussions, they played basketball and rode bikes inside the store, took selfies, worked hard, had fun and celebrated the move with cold beer!
And thats the BOTS I am engineering – a space where all of us can share awesome moments around cycling. It’s in our DNA to create value by sharing with other like minded folks. Hence our foundation, really, is you and the community.
Thats how we build BOTS.
The first bike shop that we painted with the help of other riders (blog post)
Hey Sriram, you missed a spot!
Images from our move (warning: Facebook content, might load slow)
It’s been a great journey. Thanks again for everything.
- Pictures of the awesome bike shop on the terrace: http://bit.ly/bots-terrace-pics
- Pictures of BOST Jayanagar: http://bit.ly/bots-jayanagar-new-space-pics
- Blog post announching that BOTS has moved
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT CYCLING
I love riding my bike. Whether it’s a simple commute, a high-intensity road race, a jaw-grinding brevet, fixie rides thru packed Indian city or a kick-ass technical single track – I love it all. Apart from riding bicycles, I love being all geeky and know everything there is to know about bicycles, technology, bike fit, and service.
I started BUMSONTHESADDLE to share this passion for cycling.
DISCIPLINE: Partial towards MOUNTAIN BIKING but love it all
CURRENT BIKE(S): Specialized Rockhopper, Specialized Tarmac, Pure Cycles Original
DREAM BIKE: S-Works Epic HT & S-Work Roubaix
OTHER PASSIONS: Technology, Photography, Baking, Travel, and Reading
