Anei... Stanislas "Stan" Gottié
Hey! I'm Stan Gottié.
I've been passionate about bikes since I was 11 years old. I came to New Zealand to experience this amazing country. I walked into Chris’ first store in Newmarket. There was this sign “Looking for Wicked Bike Fanatic”, and I said “Hey, that’s me!”
After 12 mths in that store, I went home to Annecy, France. It was great. It’s really beautiful there. And I really missed my parents and brothers. But I had this wicked idea to open a bike store in Queenstown. So after a few months, I called Chris and Darleen at like 3am in the morning (their time, LOL) - and they were like: “Yeah, sure!.... Now go back to sleep!”
And yeah, now I get to live my dream: Managing Bikes & Beyond, in Queenstown
Come join me on a virtual tour, now!
MY SUPER-POWER: Telling really great French jokes, in english
FAVOURITE FOOD: Anything with cheese
Aman is one of the sweetest souls you can ever hope to meet. We had to introduce a ‘sarcasm box’ when he first arrived, in order for the rest of us (Chris) to curb sarcastic humour in favour of the straight-talking, ‘speak-my-truth’, language with which Aman was raised in his native Jagraon - a very small town in the heart of punjab (North India).
He is our Guru on all matters electrical, be they BOSCH, Shimano, Dapu, Bafang et al. Aman is pre-conditioned to (lit.) bend over backwards to solve a (technical) problem. He can’t help it. What’s more: he will download you with all the (gory) details if you ask him. Again, he can’t help it. He is just born lovely.
SUPER-POWER:
FAVOURITE FOOD:
Anei... Amandeep "Aman" Singh
Anei... Christian Hoff-Nielsen
Chris is the creative visionary who spearheads our mission to get more people rolling on 2 wheels, taking up less space on the roads, and LOVING it. He brings more than 30 years experience as an automotive design engineer and a seriously savvy business head into the mix.
SUPER-POWER: Being ca. 5yrs ahead of the market (yep, validated)
WEAKNESS: Chocolate
Anei... Kenny Gill
Kenny hails from New Delhi, India and has got to be hands down one of the NICEST guys working in the industry we’ve ever met. He’s REALLY good with people. As in u can be having a gawd-awful day and this guy will just make you smile and move right along. He comes from a strong legal background, a Specialized lawyer in Intellectual Property Laws,
He’s great at:
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Formidable leadership (yep, seen that),
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Developing effective business strategies.
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Filing law suits! (....glad he's on our side!)
FAVOURITE FOOD: Rajma Chawal (Red kidney beans curry with rice)
FUN FACT: He was the shortest national basketball player ever!
Anei... Thibaut Grenier
Thibaut is our resident graphic designer/ all hands on deck store assistant in Queenstown. He hails from Salon de Provence, in the South of France but more importantly is also a life-long aficionado of the humble bicycle. (Well, maybe not so humble; his current ride is an enduro YT CAPRA 2017 ALU which is pretty hardy, actually).
FAVOURITE FOOD: Makis and Ice-cream (with biscuits inside)
FUN FACT: His helmet may be too small. (CUTE!)
Anei... Laura Hecker
Laura joined our Waiheke crew from Koln, Germany off the back of working on Cruise Ships as Tour Bike Guide taking BUNCHES of lovely people around all manner of European cities every day for half a year. (And she still had energy to burn!) She’s also really good at making pancakes: plain, sweet, fruity, or savoury… phwoar!! how does it get better than that?!
Well, actually…. She also likes lists, and structure, and order. So, Darleen is like: “LOVE her”
Of course with COVID19 lockdown, there aren’t too many lovelies to take on tour… so, Laura is helping us behind the scenes to create training materials for new staff going forward :)
Anei... Fred Sequier
Fred joined the team in March 2020 just before the COVID19 Lockdown hit NZ. Not too much time to show us his stuff really BUT enough to convince us that he's got gumption leaving his family behind in France to embark on this new adventure with not too much in the way of English language going on. With SHIMANO certifications and University quals in Marketing and Business, he'll be powering up to take over Retail Manager duties in our Auckland stores before too long.
FAV. FOOD: Pot au feu.... mmmh (google it... seriously, really, hearty FR cuisine)
FUN FACT: Has NEVER, EVER not had a bike
Anei... Oliver Lingner
Oliver is one of quieter ones in the crew. He's originally from Tübingen, Germany and helps out Stan in our Queenstown store for a few hours per week. We never really hear too much from him and in fairness it is only since we went into COVID19 lockdown that we start to get an appreciation for his dry, yep-teutonic-hard, humour.
He tells us that both his Mum and Dad are bike fanatics too, so the guy really never stood a chance! Normal then that he doesn't have a Drivers Licence and that he is METICULOUS when it comes to setting up his bike.
FAVOURITE FOOD: Steak and potatoes
FUN FACT: He never washes his bike cos he thinks it's bad for the bearings... (AHEM)
Anei... Joaquin "Joaco" Fernandez
Joaco turned up on our doorstep in Newmarket and said “Yeah, I jus’ come here because I see bikes…. I love bikes…. My Grandfather, he start up bike shops back home in Argentina and me and my mother and my father, we all work in the bike shops… an’ I love bikes”
There is something universal about ones love for bikes that transcends language. So we watched as he built up new bikes, changed out flat tyres, tuned gears, adjusted brakes all before the lunch break. By mid-afternoon, we were smitten and even a few customers swooned under the charm of this humble giant.
Anei... Maxime "Max" Folco
Max is yet another of our crew who come across as just lovely, unassuming, and quietly capable. We had to perve the internet to find more about this French guy who turned up asking for part-time work to support his english language course. Holey moley!! What a find!!
Turns out he’s an extreme MTB racer competing in hard-out, rugged-as comps across France. And not just competing, but finishing up on the podium too!!
Duck into our Devonport store if u want specialist attention to your mountain bike. He won’t be around for much longer sadly. This dark horse has big adventures to cane.