When one of Kanye West’s assistants phoned up La Carrera Cycles in 2008 asking to buy a bicycle, owner Nadir Olivet said no.
It wasn’t that he took issue with the Grammy Award-winning rapper owning a bike from his shop. Nor had the bicycle in question, a rare Italian model, sold out. The problem, if it can be called that, was that a friend of Kanye’s had already placed an order earlier as a gift for him. “I didn’t want to spoil the present,” says Nadir.
It’s far from the only time he’s done business with such high-profile clientele. La Carrera Cycles counts members of the Saudi royal family and pro skateboarding legend Natas Kaupus among its past customers, as well as late comedian and avid cyclist Robin Williams. “I thought that was the coolest thing,” says Nadir of learning that the funny man rode a bike he sold. “I heard it was one of his favourite bikes.”
