Brand Spotlight: Memory Pilot

Former pro racer and Memory Pilot founder Erik Saunders

Erik Saunders began racing bikes in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, when he got his first mountain bike as a teenager. After adding pavement miles to his training regimen to increase speed and improve fitness, Saunders later switched to road racing. Saunders eventually landed in Europe to race on elite teams in France before turning pro for a Swiss team, where he would take a win racing on the roads of Europe.

After returning to the U.S., Saunders raced for various domestic teams and founded the Time Factory Team. Following his retirement from road racing, Saunders went back to his mountain bike roots and began putting on enduro races in Southern California, becoming a founding member of the California Enduro Series. Saunders continues to promote these popular races, and still races enduros to scratch the competitive itch. 

Saunders drew on his experience working in product development with brands like Time and VP and founded Memory Pilot in 2019. Based in Santa Barbara, California, Memory Pilot is a small company with just three employees, including Saunders, that focuses on responsible, sustainable, and reliable domestic production of quality bike products. Manufacturing its bike fenders in house has allowed the company to develop and refine an efficient process, and there are plans in place to manufacture more products in house down the road.

Memory Pilot also supplies race number plates and other custom-printed goods, and sells stylish and comfortable socks, which Saunders designed after years of struggling to find a sock option that kept his feet happy. Memory Pilot's socks feature vertical ribs along the bak of the sock to help support the Achilles tendon and provide protection from pedal pins. A thinner material across the top of the ankle alleviates pressure from shoe straps and buckles, and overall light compression supports the foot and helps keep the socks riding high. 

We recently began stocking Memory Pilot socks in a variety of styles and colorways. Some of our staff members have been riding in Memory Pilot Wattstyle socks, and love the fit and feel, as well as the fun colors and designs. 

Learn more about Erik and Memory Pilot here, and shop Memory Pilot socks here.