Global bicycle stores are the new way to go when shopping for the bicycle with the perfect fit, according to Kevin Saunders, custom bicycle creator and owner of KGS bicycles.
Local bicycle shops make most of their money on repairs and accessories, and they sell bicycles at a very low margin, Saunders claims.
Saunders argues further that this means the bike shop has less incentive to put its best effort into selling the appropriate bicycle to a customer. Thus, customers who buy bicycles at their neighbourhood bike shop generally end up getting a bike that is a poor fit, causing an uncomfortable ride and a wide range of physical ailments.
Believing that there are so few shops set up to properly create and fit a bike, Saunders has begun promoting the global bike store concept, with great success, according to satisfied customers who have flown to his San Antonio store from as far away as Brazil and Scotland to get their own KGS creation.
“I took a flight all the way from Brazil to New York and then from New York to Dallas for buying my bike with KGS Bikes,” customer Paolo Pontes said. “Why would someone have such an expensive experience just to buy a bike? I´m just tired of trying to adapt myself to my bikes!”
Instead of selling off-the-rack, poorly fitted stock bikes, Saunders, a custom bike designer and fitter, literally designs and builds a bicycle which is uniquely and perfectly fitted to each buyer’s body.
“KGS Bikes was created to fulfil the next level of bicycle retailing, the GBS or global bicycle studio,” Saunders explains. “At KGS, the main product is a custom fitted bicycle that is designed and fitted with such expertise that the extra upfront investment of time and effort, even travel, was offset by a machine that would out perform any other bike.”
Saunders, a former bicycle racer, studied pre-med in college, and the knowledge he gained about human anatomy is put to use when he moulds his custom bike creations.
He also travels to Austin, Dallas and Houston on a regular basis to perform bike fittings and consultations, and he works with triathlon teams and other groups to make special trips all over the US to fit groups of cyclists for their dream bike.
