Meet Ben - he is the founder and owner of PANO Cycles, Mill Valley

Ben is a lifelong cyclist with a love for all things bikes - primarily mountain bikes! Coming from a competitive downhill background Ben learned at an early stage what it means when mistakes happen but also what success felt like. Starting in high school Ben got a job in a local bike shop as a "shop boy" but graduated quickly to bike builder then bike mechanic as his mechanical ability showed. From there Ben moved to Tahoe and worked at a high pace shop that gave him more education in mechanics, customer service and technical systems. Then Ben moved to Whistler, Canada pursuing his downhill prospects, working at a legendary shop in Whistler, traveling and racing. After his escapades around Canada, Ben moved home to San Francisco where he helped start and managed a mobile bike shop based in SF but serving Marin primarily. Finally Ben started his own Business, C+S in San Francisco - a service based business with a brick & mortar location and mobile services. After 6 years Ben closed C+S under good terms, looking forward to his next steps (more on this to follow)

While PANO is new to Mill Valley, Ben is not new in town - nor is he new at owning bike businesses. In 2017 Ben started his last Business, C+S. After a very long couple years operating in SF with several break ins, moving locations thrice, stolen service vehicles and the massive struggles of Covid he decided it was time for a change - he chose to start looking north and move C+S to Marin

While searching for a new home for C+S in early 2022, Ben started talking with another shop in Mill Valley and ended up coming to an agreement to become managing partner. The intention was to merge businesses to take this other shop to new heights with several new locations in NorCal. Ben was incredibly excited to be apart of a seemingly reputable shop with a spectacular location and what looked to be a lot of momentum. After a short period things became apparent that this other shop would not survive the test of time due to the ownerships poor ethics, questionable business practices and poor treatment of staff

Fast forward a year and a half and Ben chose to cut ties to give himself an opportunity to pursue what Mill Valley and Southern Marin Cyclists deserve! Thats when Panoramic Cycles was born, June 2023!