The history of Evolution Cycles and owner Chris
Born in 1981 in Papua New Guinea, Chris had always been around bikes, growing up with parents that were very keen cyclists, touring all over the world, from India to America, Iceland to New Zealand it is no surprise that the cycling bug was passed down. Chris grew up in many different countries in the South Pacific and Africa and throughout that time learnt to cycle at a young age and joined his parents on more cycle tours than he can remember!
Eventually settling in England to pass his GCSE’s Chris began cycling more and more and seriously took to mountain biking. Joining a local club and experiencing his first race cemented competitive cycling into Chris’s life. Continuing through A Levels and into University, mountain biking was always at the forefront, working part time for a local bike shop whilst at Uni and learning the trade. Chris picked things up very quickly and continued to ride competitively. Chris was soon noticed by a few big bike brands and offered sponsorship deals. Unfortunately, this was not to last as an accident that left Chris fighting for his life ended his competitive career.
Laying in a hospital bed, all dreams of making it big as a pro mountain biker dashed, Chris was determined not to be defeated, and so the dreams of owning and operating a bike shop were born. After recovering, Chris continued working in the trade, managing bike shops and learning more and more. Becoming highly qualified in as much as possible within the trade. Having a BSc in Sports Science and being fully CyTech qualified (the most sought after qualification for bicycle mechanics) to the highest level just wasn’t enough, Chris continued adding to his qualifications, trail leader, mountain leader, British Cycling Coach, Irish Cycling Coach…
Moving to Ireland in 2009, Chris became manager for Uni Cycle in the University of Limerick, after working here it became more and more apparent that a change was needed. So Evolution Cycles was born in 2011, however its first incarnation was as Revolution Cycles. After just over a year of trading a trademark issue meant that the name had to be changed, and so Evolution Cycles became the new trading name.
Originally set up as a brick and mortar bike shop with the emphasis on quality bicycle repair and servicing, Evolution Cycles took off. It wasn’t until 2014 Chris decided that premises were not the way forward and closed the shop in Parkes Yard, buying the Nissan Navara that you see now and taking the business mobile. The decision to close the shop was not taken lightly, but at the time Chris was teaching bicycle mechanics for the colleges, helping to run the bike project for the Youth Service and due to so much time outside the shop Chris felt this was the best option as no other mechanic could be found that was of a good enough calibre to be left run the shop.
The mobile business has gone from strength to strength and with the addition of the courses that Chris teaches and the new products, Evolution Cycles is growing and growing. With the courses running so well, it has made it easier to find people that can compliment Chris within the business and become apprentices, learning from Chris and allowing the further expansion of the business. Now with a highly trusted business coach and mentor (www.sebwaligorski.com), an excellent design and advertising team, Evolution Cycles is destined for great things!
With many more plans in the pipeline Evolution Cycles is continuously evolving and under the watchful eye of Chris will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.