How a Mumbai engineer built a premium cycling retail chain growing 55% to 65% a year

Who built it, and what they built

Mukund Umesh Thakkar runs Mastermind Bicycle Studio, a chain of retail stores in India selling high-end cycling and triathlon brands. The range covers bicycles, helmets, shoes, wheels, components, and apparel.

He is a chemical engineer with an MBA in finance who started the company at age 26. He reports that sales revenue has climbed steadily, in the range of 55% to 65% each year since launch.

Where the idea came from

Cycling began as a hobby for Mukund after he finished his MBA at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. In 2014 he joined a ride from London to Paris alongside 20 UK citizens, which exposed him to how advanced cycling culture and equipment had become in Europe.

Reaching Paris on the fourth day of that trip, he decided he would return home and open a bicycle shop. He had no background in the sport or its business, but he saw a clear gap in India for premium cycling products and proper cycling practices.

At the time he was working with his father in the family business manufacturing zinc oxide. His parents supported his move into something different from that world.

How they built the first version