tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
Crazy Lenny retires, again.
- Thread starter tomjasz
- Start date
Stefan Mikes
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, Poland
Paywalled.
Mike TowpathTraveler
Well-Known Member
I wish Lenny a happy and blessed, well-earned retirement with hopes that his ebike business survives and thrives into a future without his leadership. Lots of people populating this forum, riding a bike from his store, myself included. That happened to be one of the best moves I ever made, contacting Lenny's crew to inquire about an H-bike FatSix they had advertised.... I imagine he had to have been the biggest Haibike dealer in the USA, back when it seemed that H-Bike had over 20-30 different models in their lineup. Now, Haibike has shrunken itself right out of the US market and now, this news. Sigh.....
I recall of reading about @Ravi Kempaiah's record setting ride, accomplished with Lenny, on hand. Hopefully he will chime in with a few words about working with Lenny and what his business meant to this country coming onboard to the idea of ebikes.
I recall of reading about @Ravi Kempaiah's record setting ride, accomplished with Lenny, on hand. Hopefully he will chime in with a few words about working with Lenny and what his business meant to this country coming onboard to the idea of ebikes.
WIVado
Active Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Southwest Wisconsin
I’ve never met the man or been in one of his stores, but he has certainly got a selling history, and his name, I suppose one could say, is a household name amongst Madisonites.
Local lady here has purchased both her ebikes from his store- one of them a pretty high-end Stromer.
Local lady here has purchased both her ebikes from his store- one of them a pretty high-end Stromer.
Ravi Kempaiah
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Halifax
Len was truly one of a kind.
I am grateful for all the wonderful things he has done for me personally and in popularizing the E-bike product. When he started in 2013, E-bikes were super niche and nobody knew about them.
Still vividly remember all the times I visited him and he was so passionate about this product. He single-handedly helped many new companies sell their bikes in the mid-west and build their market presence. At 80, he has done enough and is looking to spend some time with kids and grandchildren. Just wished him a happy retirement.
Saratoga Dave
Well-Known Member
Hey Ravi, do you have a link to the file of that ride you did through the Blue Ridge Parkway on the Stromer? I’d love to see that again.
tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
FFS it's not in the USA on ANY of my OS. It's a "nunyer" anyway. AND, no relevance for you or your negative crap.
Ravi Kempaiah
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Halifax
This was his warehouse back in the 1980's.
He used to purchase 100,000 bikes every season and a spin-off this operation led to the birth of a company called " Schwinn" and which later got amalgamated into Pacific Cycles --> dorel sports.
While having a facade of "crazy"ness, he was an astute marketer and understood the importance of "scaling".
Here you go, sir.
rich c
Well-Known Member
Brought 3 bikes at Lenny’s starting in Nov 2016. Never paid MSRP on any of them. One demo, and 2 new, old model years. Just saved me a ton of money. Visited with Len on the 2 first bikes, but not the third. Very easy to talk to, made you feel right at home. Enjoy the time off Len!
Stefan Mikes
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, Poland
You could think twice before you start offending other people. The persona of Lenny was known to me from these Forums, and I was interested in the article. I would not pay $1 to read a single article though. (PC Windows).
Sparky731
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
This should be a free site for the article:
madison.com
I have known Lenny for decades as one of my IBM customers, going back to when he would give away free 10-speed bicycles with almost any appliance or piece of furniture purchased in his American TV stores. A thousand free bikes in a weekend. Several weekends in a row. He also gave away thousands of b&w TVs.
Lenny grew Madison into the bicycling capital with more bikes per capita at the time than any other city in the US. Thank you Lenny! You are a legend.
On Retail: Crazy Lenny Mattioli calls it a career in retail
The retailing icon made a name for himself selling stereos, computers and more recently electric bikes but is retiring from retail after 54 years.
I have known Lenny for decades as one of my IBM customers, going back to when he would give away free 10-speed bicycles with almost any appliance or piece of furniture purchased in his American TV stores. A thousand free bikes in a weekend. Several weekends in a row. He also gave away thousands of b&w TVs.
Lenny grew Madison into the bicycling capital with more bikes per capita at the time than any other city in the US. Thank you Lenny! You are a legend.
Stefan Mikes
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, Poland
Sparky731
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
That is Crazy! I don’t have a subscription and can easily access the article. Maybe try searching for Lenny retires, or similar. I found several articles.
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