MARK STEMMY BIO
Before he began his love affair with bicycles, Mark Stemmy was a fan of Italian cars with a nearly lifelong passion for marques like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Abarth.
In particular, the emphasis he observed in Formula 1 on optimization and a solutions-based approach helps set the tone for the expectations at Optimized Cycling Solutions (OCS) to this very day.
When he was in high school, a friend purchased a gorgeous, blue Gios Torino frame and then built it up with Campagnolo Nuovo Record components. To Mark’s eyes, it was essentially a human-powered Ferrari: beautiful and purposeful.
He was hooked.
Mark spent 10 years in the bike industry in a variety of roles, including mechanic, sales, manager, business owner, factory rep, NORBA club founder/president, and occasional road racer, among others.
At that time, the bicycle industry did not present a clear career path, nor the earning potential necessary to buy a home and start a family. Mark wished to expand his professional development and ended up spending 15 years at Intel Corp as an Engineering Technician, specializing in failure analysis and process optimization with an emphasis on documenting complex issues and driving them to resolution.
The array of skills and professional experiences from that time, coupled with Mark’s already fastidious nature regarding bicycles, resulted in a series of detailed reports, starting with the first wheel building project for OCS in early 2010.
He encountered an issue with the ENVE rims he was lacing and created a PowerPoint that helped ENVE virtually eliminate the issue.
Mark opened the first Optimized Cycling Solutions studio in 2010, intending to specialize in hand-built racing wheels. However, after only 2 months of operation, he attended the Interbike tradeshow and immediately became a dealer and rep for an Italian frame builder launching in the US for the first time, Sarto.
Eventually, this led to the foundation of the OPTIMIZED brand of custom carbon fiber bicycles, OPTIMIZED, with frames built in Italy by Sarto to Mark’s design specifications.
It was during this time that Mark began to design bicycles from the ground up as a more specific focus. He started using BikeCAD Pro software in 2011 which provided a powerful software solution for both frame design and fit analysis.
This use of data and analysis in crafting the perfect ride is evident in Mark’s client interaction. He asks a lot of questions, studies the client’s morphology, injury history, road surfaces ridden, and performance targets, among many other data points. These various elements empower Mark to anticipate his client’s needs in many ways, including service intervals tailored to each bike and rider.
Another signature service offered at OCS is the Optimization and Report.
Essentially it is a complete overhaul of the bicycle along with a report detailing the status of every system and component of the bike.
Mark has one goal: exceed his client’s expectations, now and down the road.
OCS is currently engaging new clients and invites you to experience a level of service that will allow you to get the most out of your machine, as well as your time on it.
If this type of one-on-one approach seems well aligned with your needs, we invite you to contact us for a consultation.