Founded on pro tour experience

Eminence Cycle Co. was founded by James Mitri — a former professional road cyclist who raced at pro tour level in some of the most prestigious events in the sport: Milan–San Remo, Il Lombardia, and the UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck, where he represented New Zealand.

After his racing career, James founded and managed a professional cycling team — understanding the sport from the inside at an organisational level that very few retailers can claim. He now works as a private consultant to some of the world’s biggest professional cycling teams, runs a luxury cycling tours and events business, and founded Eminence Cycle Co. as the retail expression of everything he learned at the highest level of the sport.

The result is a shop that is different from every other UK road cycling retailer. Not because of the brands we carry — though those are the best available — but because the person who selected every product in this store has used them, raced on them, and understands exactly what separates a component that performs under race conditions from one that merely looks impressive on a spec sheet.

Racing Milan–San Remo — a 294km one-day Classic from the coast to the Cipressa and the Poggio — teaches you what reliability means in a road component. Racing Il Lombardia, the Race of the Falling Leaves, teaches you what climbing performance actually feels like under sustained effort. Representing your country at the World Championships teaches you what it means for equipment to not let you down at the moment it matters most.

That experience shapes every decision at Eminence Cycle Co. — which brands we partner with, which products we stock, and what advice we give when a customer asks which upgrade will actually make a difference to their riding.

Founding and managing a professional cycling team gave him an understanding of how pro teams evaluate, select, and use components at the highest level: the conversations with brand engineers, the testing protocols, the component decisions that never make it into press releases.

His ongoing consulting work with some of the world’s biggest professional teams keeps that knowledge current. The brands and products that arrive at Eminence Cycle Co. are not chosen from a catalogue — they are chosen because James understands their place in the professional peloton and can translate that understanding into honest advice for ambitious road cyclists.