So recently I had the pleasure of being introduced to Stan Day, founder/president of SRAM Bicycle Components. Most of Colorado Springs knows them better by one of the companies they own....our very own Rock Shox here in Colorado Springs which is a key R&D center in the development, testing, and pre-production of Rock Shox and Avid Brands as well as...well I'll get to that later.  He and his brother FK also started World Bicycle Relief.

For many of us, Rock Shox is the creme de la creme of bicycle suspension. We all know someone who works at Rock Shox/Avid here in town because the staff is very active in local cycling advocacy as well as other community activities. I personally grew up with one of the senior engineers, heck we even raced on the same team back home for 2 years (Note: Jeff was always MUCH faster and still is). Since I moved here 8 years ago from working for LEW Composites in Las Vegas (the company EDGE Compositeshttp://www.edgecomposites.com founder/good friend Jason Schiers ran) I've had a pleasure of knowing the staff during the Paul Turner (later started Maverick) Rock Shox days to the days of SRAM picking them up. 

My run in with Stan was this last Wednesday morning. He was going to be speaking to the Young Professionals of Chicago at a breakfast. I was invited by friends from the organization to attend knowing my love for bikes while in town on work. I have to say, I was impressed from the moment I shook his hand. 

SRAM is one of the largest privately owned companies in Chicago with over $400 million a year in sales. Yet Stan showed up to speak on his bike, a neatly tucked in Colombia shirt being the only sign of exuberance on him. His watch a cheap Timex model that looks like it's seen better days. This is not what you'd expect from a man who started and runs such a collective. 

Stan was personable and easy to talk with from the get go. My friend from YPC introduced me simply as "This is the bike guy I told you about" and with that I received from Stan an outreached hand as well as a smile as though he was here to see me and not the other way around. Our conversation was a diverse mix of talking about the industry, mutual friends, my admiration for the company, and some neat things going on in SRAM. All the while he treated me as an equal. For me this was a dream come true. To get to talk to someone like this who exists in the industry at this level. And as I sat down front and center at the main table to hear him speak, it only got better.

 The road to this day was not easy for SRAM, the original product, Gripshift, sold only 800 units in the first year...defying all of his Tulane taught MBA rules which told him they should be able to sell 8,000. Yet he pushed on. He admitted his failures. He admitted he actually told his brother FK "NO" to doing a mountain bike shifter....his brother then produced one behind his back and it became their #1 product at the time. He spoke of what it was like to go up against a giant like Shimano, to acquire a $100million German company (Sachs) and the difficulties of it....as well as how it forged his beliefs of keeping acquired companies home base, and even how it applied to Colorado Springs. 

As someone who bought his first set of Gripshift while working in a shop in '92 and still runs Gripshift to this day, owns SRAM spec'd road and mountain bikes, it was a true blessing to get a chance to meet, talk with extensively, and just listen to Stan speak. I'm happy to say though in 2011....you may get to as well in Colorado. 

Stan suggested the following reads to the room of movers and shakers of Chicago's future, most who weren't even cyclists, the following:

1. "Lean Thinking" (Book)

2 "Good to Great" (Book)

3. "What is Strategy" (Porter, Harvard Business Review article)

Oh....and I can hear it now....what's this big announcement that Stan made public to the group yesterday?  Colorado Springs will soon be getting a new product line to R&D added to the Avid/Rock Shox lines......Mountain Bike Wheels. I can't say what Stan told me after regarding this addition, I can just say it's pretty exciting.