Going from Wall Street to an even faster lane

Greg Cordasco walked away from a Wall Street career in municipal-bond trading and started peddling bicycles.

More than 16 years later, he says, "they could pay me $100,000 a day, and I would not go back."

Cordasco sells high-end bikes at his shop, Liberty Cycle, in Basking Ridge. Next weekend, he will again be a high-profile man in town via his sponsorship of a series of bicycle races.

"It's one of the bookends of my summer," says Pete Wright, Bernard Township's director of parks and recreation. "Greg's race is an anchor of our way of welcoming folks back home to see what they did all summer."

Wright says in addition to the big race, there are races for children where everyone wins something, plus a 200-yard sprint for the police bike patrol members in full uniform with vests and weapons.

Cordasco, describing himself as an "Italian Newark guy with the middle-class grindstone work ethic," says he got into competitive biking when he was still trading bonds.

"I started training when a couple of fellow traders challenged each other to a triathlon on Long Island," he says.

At the time, Cordasco says, he wasn't married. But he was already thinking of what it would be like when he had a wife and children. "I saw my dad worked hard for money, and I just wanted to make sure I was doing something I wanted to do," he says. "Money is a necessity. But it's not everything."

When he walked away from Wall Street, he says he walked into a bike shop where he did business and was asked to help out because someone didn't show up for work. "I sold a couple of bikes, and I started selling bikes, and a light switch went on," he says.

In 1990, he opened his own shop, describing it as "a family shop with a racing team." One of his early customers was his future wife, Ingrid.

"My wife and I have three kids, and I never would have met her if I didn't leave Wall Street and open a bike shop," he says.

In addition to his retail business, Cordasco runs a number of racing teams. Shannon Gillette, a spokesman for the Chandler, Ariz.-based American Bicycle Association, says the racing competitions "get kids interested in cycling at an early age, and the selling point for youngsters to participate is that no one rides the bench."

The Labor Day Weekend race in Basking Ridge has thrust Cordasco into the fast lane of the bicycle world. Yet, he says his core business is still the bike shop, where he competes for business with similar enterprises and the big discounters, but sells basically higher-end bikes ranging in price from about $275 to $8,000 and higher.

Cordasco has two full-time employees and has about 200 bikes on display. "I have grown 10 times. I am 10 times larger in gross dollars," he says. "I've had growth every year for 14 years."

"We've had a lot of people coming to the race and get interested in the sport," Cordasco says. "They come see us for what they will need to get into the sport in proper fashion. I'm happy. Some want to ride 10 miles and are happy. Some what to ride 100 miles."

Dan Antonelli, owner of a graphic arts and sign company in nearby Washington, says, "I recently purchased a high-end bike from him and was just struck by his passion. I was struck by his passion for his profession and craft."

Antonelli says he joined one of the clubs, and he trains regularly, even taking part in the Tour of Basking Ridge competition.

Cordasco says he tries to reach his customers on a personal basis. "I am sandwiched between two big shops, but my customers describe me as home cooking," he says. "We have what mass merchants don't, beginning with the quality of the bike, making sure it fits properly and is assembled properly.

Beyond safety and comfort, he says, there is service. "When a bike has to be fixed, you bring it to a bike shop. We have lifetime service. But if you bought it somewhere else, I have to charge you $50 for a tune-up. It costs nothing for a tune-up if you bought from us. "

But there is even more to Cordasco's focus.

"I really want kids to know the sport exists," he says. "A lot of kids don't fall into team sports. It's good for you and something you can do all your life. Instead of sitting on the bench for years, you could be out riding a bike, doing something healthy and watch yourself improve."

Dan Weissman writes about small business. He can be reached at dweissman@starledger.com.

GREG CORDASCO

Personal: 42, owner Liberty Cycle, Basking Ridge, www.libertycycleinc.com.

Lives: Basking Ridge with his wife, Ingrid, and their three children. "I live above the bike shop so I can see my kids all the time."

Education: graduate Susquehanna University with degree in economics and English

In his spare time: "I spend as much time with the kids as I can. I still ride eight to 10 hours a week. The rest of the time I focus on my family."