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I sat down with Chris Sugai, General Manager of Gates Corporation's Mobility Unit — and the founder of Niner Bikes, where he championed 29" wheels back when they were less than 1% of the market. Now he's doing it again, this time with belt drives.
We talked about:
- The uncanny parallel between the resistance he faced pushing 29ers in the early 2000s and the skepticism belt drives face today — almost all of it from people who've never actually ridden
- What it's like being an "ingredient brand" inside OEM partnerships, and why the real work happens in the trenches with frame and drivetrain manufacturers, not in front of the end consumer
- Selling Niner after 20 years, the capital strain of growing a company at double-digit rates, and what it taught him
- The transition from 40 years as an entrepreneur to being an employee at a 115-year-old, $3.5B public company — and why he actually prefers it
There's something great about hearing a founder talk candidly about giving up control, and what he gained in return.
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