Valley Bicycle Manufacturer Pedals Full Speed Ahead

The wheels are beginning to turn for a group of childhood friends turned entrepreneurs who started Pure Fix Cycles, a Burbank bicycle and biking accessories company. Pure Fix is in growth mode. The startup recently moved to Burbank from North Hollywood and hired staff for its warehouse operations. This month, two of the company’s partners attended the world’s largest bicycle show in China. And the company is preparing new models for release as early as this summer. Pure Fix was initially funded by four partners — Michael Fishman, brothers Jordan and Zach Schau, and Austin Stoffers — in October 2010. But before long, the company attracted the attention of investors, who saw potential for the company to be a leader in the fixed-gear bicycle market. A group of five investors from Los Angeles and New York has injected about $300,000 into the company to help spin the business forward. More than providing capital, they have also become mentors to the Pure Fix management team, Fishman said. “It’s been a good learning experience,” he said. “We had no idea what it was like to have outside investors.” The youthful quartet, all 25 years old or under, has impressed those they have worked with on both the financial and wholesale side of the business. “They are one of my cooler clients,” said San Fernando Valley-based attorney Matt Crowley, who worked with Pure Fix on its financing and recently published a book about how to finance a startup, called “Getting in the Game.” “They are ambitious, they are fun, and they work as hard as any other startup team I have seen.” Since launching 18 months ago, Pure Fix has sold about 5,000 bicycles. The bikes are painted in flashy colors and carry names borrowed from the military alphanumeric alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.). Fixed-gear bikes, or fixies, represent a small portion of overall bicycles sales, which totaled about 19.8 million in the U.S. in 2010, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association. However, fixed-gear bikes have a strong following among young people on college campuses and in urban areas. Pure Fix’s sales are concentrated in California and other warm-weather states that are conducive to year-round bike riding. Bike messengers in San Francisco have used fixed-gear bicycles for years, but in Los Angeles they have only entered the mainstream in the past three years, said George Mirzoian, owner of Pedalers West, a bike shop with two locations in the San Fernando Valley. “I don’t know how long it is going to last, but they are in high demand,” said Mirzoian, who has sold an estimated 200 Pure Fix bicycles between his two shops. Company officials say consumers find the brand appealing based on price. Pure Fix sells its bikes for $325, much less than brand-name competitors selling bikes for $500 or more. Additionally, consumers can select from 12 colors and an assortment of accessories that allow buyers to bring their own style to their purchase. Those factors, plus simplicity and quality, should come to mind when people learn of the Pure Fix brand, Zach Schau said. “I’d like them to think of a sexy product for $300,” he added. The four company partners do not have specific job titles, though they have distinct roles. Fishman handles the accounting and financial matters. Stoffers goes on sales trips and keeps in touch with the manufacturer in China; the Schau brothers focus on the website and retail sales. “For a company with four founders it is remarkably well-run,” said Andy Abowitz, a Los Angeles resident who is part of the investor group. Pure Fix has the potential to become the largest dealer in fixed-gear bicycles, he said. As the company grows and evolves, however, Abowitz anticipates that the typical life-cycle changes of a startup will kick in — meaning that more seasoned management will be brought in to lead the company. “In the meantime, they are doing a terrific job,” Abowitz said of the partners. “They have their eye on the ball.”