Following a year which upended the retail industry, it’s heartening to see new stores opening in the area. Katy is now home to the state’s largest Cycle Gear.
Located near Katy Mills, the motorcycle accessories retailer had “soft-opened” in November 2020. At 25,000 square feet, Cycle Gear Katy is six times the size of the three other Cycle Gear stores in the Houston area. It carries motorcycle parts, apparel, helmets, body armor and accessories as well as e-bikes. The store also offers tire installation and repair services.
“It’s like walking into a catalog,” said Dave Burrow, Cycle Gear’s district manager for Texas. “We’re going to have one of everything. For instance, we have 1,400 helmets on display. A typical, normal store will only have about 300.”
Cycle Gear hosted a grand opening for its Katy location over Memorial Day Weekend, complete with giveaways, bike demos, and a visit from homegrown Tik-Tok star and motorcycle-enthusiast Bisous Suzuki.
“I’ve never seen anything like this selection before; the variety of attire in the store is amazing,” Suzuki said. “Everything you need to be a rider is here. My favorite part of the store is the helmet wall. It’s like going to the candy store in the mall — all the flavors you could imagine.”
In addition to a vast selection of motorcycle paraphernalia, the Katy store also has a wind tunnel, a large, enclosed tube which produces a controlled blast of air. It is used to simulate wind conditions on a highway.
“You can check the fit of the clothes and helmet by standing in the wind tunnel,” said store manager Sam Howard. “It actually simulates going down the highway at 60 miles per hour. No other retailer has a wind tunnel in their store.”
The store is sectioned off into four different “lifestyle” or “category” areas — cruiser, adventure, dirt and street.
“The rider community has seen a huge influx of new riders since the pandemic and a lot of people are just now getting into the motorgear space, which can be intimidating,” said Bert Jackson, vice president of retail. “They need to try helmets, jackets, gloves — gloves are sometimes one of the hardest pieces of gear to buy. It’s super critical that we have this selection because it’s a safety issue — making sure we’re getting the (new customers) the right size and style of helmet etc.”
Jackson said that the wind tunnel allowed new riders to understand how a jacket would feel or how noisy a helmet would be while riding at high speed.
Cycle Gear’s parent company, the Comoto Family of Brands, joined forces with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation in May to support its 37th annual Ride for Kids. The partnership aims to raise awareness about PBTF’s mission of finding a cure for pediatric brain tumors.
“We’ve got rides going on across the country later this year and Bisous Suzuki is leading one of the rides,” said Jackson. “She’s really been a big help. We’re going to donate a portion of our revenue to the foundation.”
juhi.varma@hcnonline.com
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Cycle Gear opens biggest store in Katy, aims to reach more first-time motorcycle riders - Houston Chronicle
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