Local Legend Series: Sandy Chapman
Sandy, recently in front of the WORKSHOP with his Enve Mog Gravel bike
Before I met Sandy Chapman, the word “legend” was used to describe him in passing conversations with everyone who knows him. When we first took over the WORKSHOP in 2013, Sandy and his sales group (Tifosi Sales) were our account reps for SRAM, Zipp, Thule, and a host of other key bike brands in the NYC area. It was approximately 8 months before we met Sandy himself, and when we did, it was an incredible experience. Sandy’s sales delivery was precise, and his technique was smooth and convincing. He was also one of the nicest reps to walk in the door, so we immediately felt comfortable buying from him, his employees, and the companies they represented. Being around bikes and talking to shop owners not only seemed to come naturally to Sandy, but it was obvious that he has spent a lifetime doing it. Does this make him legendary? What makes someone a “legend”? Let’s dive into who Sandy is to back up this claim.
Sandy was raised in Ridgewood, NJ, and settled in Glen Rock 35 years ago after getting married. Bergen County has been home for the majority of his life. He always rode bikes since it was the only way to get around as a kid. “It wasn’t until my senior year of HS when I signed up for a 35-mile fundraising ride and realized I liked it as a sport”. He continues, “ At 19, I lost my girlfriend to a drunk driver and didn’t get into a car for the next two years. I rode 15-18K miles each of those years, exploring northern NJ and venturing deep into the Hudson Valley. During that time, I got pretty good at riding as well as wrenching on my bike, which led to a job at the Fuji Cycle Center of NJ in Rochelle Park.” Sandy was wrenching and selling bikes while completing his degree at Ramapo College. While working there, another former shop employee who’d gone to work for SunTour USA asked him to evaluate and run durability testing on a handful of products since he was riding so much at the time.
In the early 1980s, Sandy discovered Mountain Bikes, which were still mostly modified Klunkers or beach cruisers. Charlie Kelley and his friends out in Marin County had been experimenting with these bikes and their “off-road” capabilities since the mid to late 70s, and these descendants of the Klunkers had just recently migrated their way East. Sandy and his crew at the Fuji Cycle Center were probably the first folks in the area to hit the trails on their makeshift mountain bikes.
Sandy sending it in the Rock Garden State
Sandy racing Cyclocross
“In the summer of ‘82, I’d intended to ride to Colorado to spend the winter in Telluride as a ski bum. Unfortunately, summer turned to fall, and I’d not earned enough money to fund the trip. I ended up purchasing a one-way airline ticket to CO, flew out, and secured a job as a lift attendant in mid-November. Around Thanksgiving, the guy from SunTour called me and asked if I’d be headed home for Christmas since they were hiring and wanted to interview me.” As far as we are concerned, it was around this time that Sandy earned his legendary status. “I quit the ski area job after a week of training, skied for a few week, headed back to NJ and was hired by SunTour as Assistant National Sales Manager that January”. During this period, when he worked with Suntour, he was an integral part of the development of mountain bike specific componentry. Before any of the current drivetrain brands developed parts that were robust enough to handle the riggers of off-road cycling, SunTour, with Sandy’s leadership, spent time fact-finding and developing products that suited the needs of guys like Charlie Kelley, Joe Breeze, Tom Ritchey, and Gary Fisher. It was the development of these parts that created the independent industry and the first wave of technology-driven, application-specific off-road bike parts. Sandy was there with the founders of the sport, working hand in hand, and was pivotal to bringing the sport to the forefront as a key representative for the bike industry. His input was legendary.
Sandy and other racers on the cover of Fat Tire Flyer in 1984
When I asked Sandy to tell me about his most memorable riding moment, I was expecting to hear about one of his epic MTB racing weekends in Colorado or a once-in-a-lifetime mountain bike trip somewhere exotic. I was surprised to hear his response. “Through my career, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to meet so many amazing people and have been able to share rides with them in some incredible places across the world. If I could list only one, it would have to be spending a week in Zambia with World Bicycle Relief. We assembled our own Buffalo Bikes and rode into the countryside each day, visiting health care workers, primary school kids, and various small business owners while gaining insight into how each of these people’s lives had been transformed through bikes. It was a week I’ll never forget.” In my opinion, His response supports his legendary status.
These days, Sandy has lost the desire to pin a number on, and he finds himself giving back through volunteer trail work, supporting a handful of charity and non-profit fundraising cycling events, and riding for the pure enjoyment of the experience. Giving back also helps boost his legendary status. Sandy has finally retired from the bike industry and recently joined our trail crew at Sterling Forest with Palisades MTB.
As far as his future riding goals, “I am planning a handful of bike-packing journeys this spring and summer, including a trip from Flagstaff to St Louis.” We are hoping he can join a couple of our WORKSHOP group rides as well this summer so you, too, can meet the legend.
Sandy in Zambia with the World Cycling Relief
