Formula Fixed is a high-intensity, brakeless cycling league that brings urban fixed-gear racing to ticketed indoor stadiums and technical, short-track venues designed for spectator-first, digital-native entertainment. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Formula Fixed founders James and Clare Grady to learn more.
Background Of James And Clare Grady
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Could you tell me more about your background?
Formula Fixed (James): I grew up around sports. Baseball was my first love until a car accident cut that short. I ended up catching bullpens and throwing BP for Team USA during the first World Baseball Classic, which was surreal. After that, I became a bike messenger in San Francisco and eventually won the Alleycat World Championship in Montreal. That experience lit the fire for building something bigger around fixed gear culture. Along the way, I founded Mission Crit, which became one of the biggest fixed-gear criteriums in the world.
Formula Fixed (Clare): My path was a little different. I come from a brand and design background, working with Apple and AKQA on campaigns that had to connect with millions of people. I fell in love with life by bike while living in Amsterdam as a student intern, and started getting involved with James’ events in 2014. What drew me in wasn’t racing itself, but the culture around it — the fashion, the music, the storytelling. That’s what I bring to Formula Fixed, making sure the energy of the sport translates into something fans can feel.
Formation Of The Company
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): How did the idea for the company come together?
Formula Fixed (James): After Mission Crit, I realized there was a ceiling to how big these underground events could get. You’d pack the streets, create insane energy, but it wasn’t sustainable financially. The idea for Formula Fixed came from asking, what if we built a league from scratch with fans at the center, not just racers? What if we put these events in a controllable setting where the variables would be more predictable? Something you don’t have is racing the streets of, say, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where everything from permitting to weather is always a concern. What if these locations – like arenas and stadiums – were privately owned? Or what if we pulled a UFC or WWE and built our own equivalent of the Apex or the NXT Training Center?
Pondering those questions was when this dream became real for us.
Formula Fixed (Clare): For me, it was about seeing the disconnect. 94 percent of Americans know how to ride a bike, but only a tiny fraction follow professional cycling. What I always saw at Mission Crit was that I could bring my non-cycling friends out for it and they’d be just as stoked on it as the people who get up at 4am to watch the Tour. It seemed like we could fix the disconnect between cyclists and cycling sport fans and build this shorter, faster, more entertaining format into something bigger. It’s less like the Tour de France and more like the NBA or skateboarding, so the culture and the sport feed off each other.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far?
Formula Fixed (James): The October 2024 showcase event. We rented a kart track, packed it out with hundreds of people and people went crazy. Like, absolutely nuts.
Seeing fans lean over the rail screaming like it was a concert or basketball game showed me we were onto something. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
Clare: Same event, but my favorite part was looking at the numbers after. 32,000 followers on Instagram and more than five million impressions without a dollar of paid spend. That kind of organic energy is rare. We knew we’d have to capitalize on it.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What are the company’s core products and features?
Formula Fixed (James): At the core, it’s brakeless fixed gear racing. But the product is more than the race itself. It’s the whole environment… music, lights, storytelling, and the sense that anything can happen in an instant.
Formula Fixed (Clare): Exactly. The product is the race, but it is also everything that surrounds it. The content fans share, the behind-the-scenes moments with riders, the fashion, the food trucks. It is more than competition on the track… it’is a cultural event.
Younger sports fans are showing us this shift clearly; most of them only engage with sport through clips and highlights on social media. They don’t want to sit through a three-hour game unless there is something extra. They want a connection with the athletes on social media, food and entertainment at the venue, maybe even a gambling angle as a second screen. That is where the attention is, and it is something even leagues like the NFL, MLB, and NHL are starting to notice.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently?
Formula Fixed (James): There are always challenges. The biggest one is convincing people that cycling can work as a spectator sport in the U.S. A lot of sponsors and partners are hesitant because they have not seen it done the right way. That is why every event we put on is designed to prove the concept.
Funding is another hurdle. Leagues like The Golf League and Unrivaled have pulled in significant investment, but those sports already have deep roots as spectator events here. With cycling, the battle has been explaining that the sport itself is not the issue. The format is what needs to change, and that is what we are building.
Formula Fixed (Clare): On my side, it’s about perception. Cycling can feel elitist and inaccessible. We’ve worked hard to make Formula Fixed feel inclusive and exciting to someone who may not even own a road bike.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): How has the company’s technology evolved since launching?
Formula Fixed (James): We’re hoping to add more data and more angles to the experience. On-bike cameras are a possibility via GoPros, entertaining introductions on par with an NBA game. We’ll have real-time stats as we go forward. That said, cycling has always been a relatively simple concept. Go fast and be the first across the finish line.
Formula Fixed (Clare): Our production approach has evolved, too. We’ve built formats that work perfectly for social clips. Short, sharp, emotional moments that look amazing on a phone.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones?
Formula Fixed (James): Mission Crit was the start, but Formula Fixed’s 2024 showcase proved the new model works. Selling tickets – much less selling out – in cycling is rare. We did it with an overflow crowd that had us worried about fire codes.
Formula Fixed (Clare): Announcing the 2026 Pro Series was huge, too. It showed that this is more than one-off events. We’re building a league with structure and longevity in mind.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Can you share any specific customer success stories?
James: For Mission Crit, we had riders fly in from more than a dozen countries. That kind of commitment showed us the demand for something like Formula Fixed. We know that our goals aren’t just domestic, but global, and perhaps even with an eye on Olympic inclusion.
Formula Fixed (Clare): One story I love is about fans who came to the showcase not knowing anything about fixed gear racing. They left not just entertained but wearing Formula Fixed merch and asking when the next event was. That’s the transformation we’re chasing.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What total addressable market size are you pursuing?
Formula Fixed (James): Cycling has always held only a small share of interest among U.S. sports fans, and most of that attention comes during the Tour de France or the Olympics every four years. We are also a long way removed from the Lance Armstrong era, which was the last time cycling had mainstream visibility here. That is why even small gains in fan interest would be a huge success.
Peloton is a good example. They turned indoor spin classes into a gamified experience and now have former pros like Christian Vande Velde leading rides. If we can build on that kind of crossover appeal and bring it into the live spectator space, we will be in a strong position.
Formula Fixed (Clare): And because it lives at the intersection of sport, culture, and entertainment, our market isn’t just cycling. It’s action sports, contact sports, other racing sports, anything with digital-first sports fans; it’s anyone who loves fast, shareable, emotional moments.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What differentiates the company from its competition?
Formula Fixed (Clare): What sets us apart is culture. We don’t just put on races. We build a vibe. That’s why people stay connected after the event.
Formula Fixed (James): We’re not trying to be a traditional cycling league. We’re not tweaking the old model. We’re trying to do something drastically different.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What are some of the company’s future goals?
Formula Fixed (James): The launch of the Pro Series in 2026 is a major milestone. After that, the goal is to expand across the country and eventually around the world. In an ideal scenario, we would like to have our own dedicated venue, something like a TV studio, that could host events regularly and serve as the centerpiece for Formula Fixed.
Formula Fixed (Clare): Gamification is a huge opportunity for us. I look at marquee tentpoles like NBA 2K and dream what that could look like in our ecosystem. I’d also like to build stronger ties to local cycling communities wherever we go. Formula Fixed should feel rooted in the culture of each city, not just dropped in.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Any other topics you’d like to discuss?
Formula Fixed (James): Just that we want people to experience this in person. We’ve aimed to make the spectator experience both affordable and memorable for all ages.
Formula Fixed (Clare): And if you can’t, follow us on socials. The best part of Formula Fixed is that you don’t need to be a hardcore cyclist to enjoy it. You just need to like speed, energy, and a little chaos.
