Like a pair of wings: Two-wheel power in Kenya 🇰🇪
The following interview is with Frederick Odero, the owner of Cycloville, a Mike’s Bikes sister shop in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. We asked him a few question about how he got to where he is and his views on East Africa’s budding cycling sector.
From humble beginnings to a journey of growth and success
Where are you from and what is a special memory from your childhood?
I was born and raised in Nairobi. When I think of my days as a kid, I believe my entire childhood was special. I was extremely playful. I was fortunate to attend good schools and there was great street foods around our school and neighborhood. I made many friends and some of us are still friends until today. We used to walk and sometimes ride bikes several kilometers just to go and play. We left the house early in the morning and came back late in the evening, we didn't even care about lunch and we survived without video games and mobile phones.
Where did you learn how to ride a bicycle and which other memories do associate this with?
My childhood friend and I, both big boys, taught ourselves to ride using a small 12” bike at a family friend's house. I practiced balancing indoors since I didn't have a bike of my own. Whenever my parents visited, I seized the chance to ride. The neighbor boy often joined me, and we would sneak the bike outside to practice. The bike's owner, already an experienced rider, didn't mind us using his bike.
What was your first bicycle that you owned?
The first bicycle I owned was a 26” MTB and It was bought in the year 2000. The pressure from my friends who already had bikes was too much, I got bored when they went for rides and was not part of it so I decided to go on a hunger strike in order for my parents to get me the bike.
It began at Frederick’s friend Michael’s open air bike shop in Nairobi
How did cycling shape your childhood, youth, adulthood and how did you get into the bicycle business?
We used to walk crazy distances with no bikes and we were very small at that time. Now we are slightly older and we have bikes and no phones so when you leave the house people have to wait till you come back. It's like being given a pair of wings. We had no boundaries, we could visit all our friends anytime anywhere and we didn't need money to do this. Sometimes my mom had to lock the bike with a chain for me to focus on my studies. As a jobless youth the bike was a huge save. Commuting was no problem for me. I could go anywhere any time. I also had to start learning how to manage and maintain the bike properly so that I could use it for longer before I went back to my parents for money to replace parts and fix the bike because they didn't like the idea of me cycling at my age. They viewed the bike as a toy, to them it was a distraction to my school work. To me it was a tool, through the bike I made new friends. I started learning about races, long distance cycling, bike mechanics, bike shops in Nairobi and many other things.
I learned a lot about tours, races, and the importance of basic bike repairs through my mechanic, Michael, who was also a serious racer. I did my first upgrade on my bike to try to make it lighter. This was a very expensive affair for me because, at this time, I had completed high school and my parents could no longer finance my cycling activities. To them, I was over 18 and shouldn't be playing with toys. So, I had to turn to my savings. The upgrade took a huge chunk of my savings, but I also had spares that were fairly good and could still be used. My mechanic advised me that I could sell the spares through him and recover some money. Around 2011-12, getting quality bike parts, accessories, and clothes was a major problem. Sourcing these parts to upgrade my bike and successfully selling the ones I removed through the small partnership with Michael was the foundation of getting into the bike business.
With the first container from Mike’s Bikes a lot of stock came rolling in at once
Where was your first shop and how did you manage to establish multiple shops in Nairobi?
My first shop was in a place in Nairobi called Parklands. It was a partnership with my friend, but I had to leave it to him because we had different management styles. So, I went to another place called Seasons Kasarani. My cousin and three of my friends liked my idea and invested in the new shop. I was also very lucky when one of my friends, who was selling bikes on consignment to another shop, had to supply me with plenty of bikes worth around 4000 USD because the shop he was initially supplying closed down, and he didn't have enough storage at his home to keep the bikes. Thus, my shop was a perfect solution for his problem. The only condition he gave me was to pay him not less than 100 USD every month without fail until I cleared the bill.
I had the idea of having multiple shops, but I didn't expect it to happen in less than three years after opening the shop at Kasarani. What catalyzed this idea was the support we got from Mike's Bikes. The first container we ever imported came from Mike's Bikes Foundation. This gave us access to a good number of bikes, parts, and accessories that couldn't be handled by one shop alone. However, we didn't want to sell too many bikes wholesale or on credit because we would have made less money. So, the best strategy was to open new shops. This way, we were able to sell a good number of bikes at retail within a certain period of time, allowing us to recover the cost of importing the container.
How and where did you come across Mike's Bikes?
I was doing some research about Bicycles for Humanity and what we required in order to get shipments. Then, somehow, Mike's Bikes Foundation appeared, and I texted them on Facebook. I got a response telling me to send them an email. Later, Ken Martin sent me an email. I told him about our project, and he was happy with it. He came to Kenya, visited our shop, and also visited Chris Froome's mentor, David. From there, things started to take off.
Frederick’s first bike shop in Parklands became an instant success
Mike's Bikes now belongs to the PON.bike Group, one of the biggest bicycle companies in the world. What are your thoughts on this?
I think it's a great opportunity to be working with Mike's Bikes and PON at this time because the whole of Africa is an emerging market. In the future, we as a company also plan to import brand new bicycles, so I think East Africa could become a very big market for PON.
What are your plans and goals for the next 5 years?
In the next 5 years, we plan to import at least 5 containers per year. Additionally, we plan to sponsor and support 1 cycling team, organize 1 major cycling event, and hold 2 small events.
Regarding Mike's Bikes support, I believe there are numerous avenues for collaboration. The most significant opportunity lies in learning from Mike's Bikes, understanding their business operations, and adopting practices that also appeal to PON. Furthermore, Mike's Bikes could potentially sponsor our team and events in the near future, or support our riders in gaining exposure through participation in international events. Currently, we are also facing challenges with our mechanics' training, and acquiring high-quality tools would greatly alleviate this issue.
Our market is expanding, and cycling is gaining popularity over time. If you have products and bikes suitable for our market, we would welcome the opportunity to try them out.
Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions and best of success for the journey ahead!
Contact Details of the shop:
Cycloville Kenya
www.cycloville.co.ke
Facebook Cycloville Kenya
Instagram @Cycloville
