Track record
Dubai-based Wolfgang Hohmann, aka Wolfi, has been bringing cycling to the forefront on an entire nation’s consciousness for nearly two decades
Shutting down a section of the 14-lane arterial Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai to allow only cyclists to come out onto it for the very first time was a bold, multi-tiered statement. The initiative, part of the Dubai Fitness Challenge 2020 season spearheaded by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, was one that not only prioritised health and fitness, but which also demonstrated the maturity of the cycling community here in Dubai and the UAE.
Enjoying a ringside view of the growth of this community, and playing a vital part in keeping it lit, is Wolfgang Hohmann, aka Wolfi. He arrived in Dubai in 2002 and opened a small bike shop in the city with his only assistants back then being his wife, and another friend he brought over from Germany who worked as a mechanic at the shop.
That small-scale business has today grown into a 700-square-metre operation on Sheikh Zayed Road which employs over 60 people and retails some of the top cycling brands – and which also counts Sheikh Hamdan among its customers.
“We operate as a retailer. We also have a distribution department where we supply other bicycle businesses in the region with equipment,” says Wolfi who, through his
WBS Sport Equipment Trading, supplies to retailers in several other countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
Wolfi’s Bike Shop welcomes the entire spectrum of riders from amateurs to professionals. But the average starting range of its bikes is approximately Dhs2,500 and can go north of Dhs60,000 for Tour de Francestyle bikes. Some of the major brands it retails include Swiss manufacturer Scott, Italian bike specialist Colnago and Canadian cycling rage Cervélo.
But Wolfi won’t encourage you to merely stroll in, pick a bike and ride out. At the store, he has installed a laser-guided measuring machine from Germany called the Radilabor Cycling Laboratory Smart Fit System. The body-and-bike scanner includes a database of frames from every major cycling company in the world to help fit and recommend the right bike for specific individuals. Also, another tech-driven product used at Wolfi’s is the pressure measurement system called GebioMized, used by the German National Cycling team for its pro athletes. It uses sensors to gather data around a saddle analysis, foot analysis and pedalling efficiency analysis.
“We’re trying to eliminate this process of trial and error,” says Wolfi of the process of helping people find the right bike for them. “It’s almost like a custom-made suit.” Wolfi could as much have had a flourishing career as a Michelin star chef, as he does within the pro bicycling industry. Back in the late Eighties when he was coming of age, he worked in the kitchen of a one-star Michelin restaurant in Freiburg, Germany. “In the Eighties, mountain biking was big. The area where we were was close to the French and Switzerland border. Along with a friend, I decided to offer a rental service of mountain bikes to the guests of the hotel and entertain them with some nice riding in the Black Forest.” It was then that he realised he had an above-average understanding of cycles. The lessons that he learnt in the kitchen meanwhile could serve him just as well in the bicycle industry too. “I learned a lot about working under enormous pressure [in the kitchen], delivering under time pressure an exact product where customers’ expectations are extremely high when it comes to that style of a restaurant.”
When Wolfi decided to move to Dubai to start his bike shop, he says the community of riders was very small. By way of the Dubai Roadsters which he now leads, that community has mushroomed, and undertakes weekly rides across various locations