A little history of Logan bike shops.

People that have been around cycling in Logan for some time often comment that there has been a shop at the Joyride Bikes location forever. That's only partly correct, so I thought I'd type up some of the history of bike shops in Logan. I'm sure I'll miss some things but one thing that has been consistent is that there has always been a strong passion for cycling among the shop owners.

The location of most of the shops people are referring to is actually just a bit north of Joyride Bikes current location at what is now Mackley Designer Portraiture. The first shop I remember being there when I young was Aardvark Cycles. I remember seeing a mountain bike in there that was the typical for the time: bullhorn bars, rigid fork and thumb shifters except that it had a 26" front wheel and a 20" back wheel. We get lucky and get Janet out on rides with us sometimes.

The next shop to move into that location was Pursuit Cycles. Weston Allen was the owner and also made his own frames. They were all painted black and neon green, 80s style-which is cool again. For a small price he would strip your bike and paint it to match the team colors. I recall going in there and hanging out. Weston and Dave were about the coolest guys ever because they knew about bikes. They would give me old team tires so I could get use out of them to finish them off. Cameron worked there and now is back in Logan after being in St. George for many years. Paul Witteker worked there and now runs a CrossFit gym in Smithfield. I eventually bought my first bike from Weston, a Miyata 714, I wanted a 912 but they were sold out. A friend bought that from me and now I hear it is styling under a hipster in Sugarhouse. I also remember meeting a very tall John Hernandez on a group ride who went up the hill out of Richmond really fast and is still doing that today.

I'm pretty sure that Pursuit Cycles then became Adventure Sports. A different Dave owned that and Ron Stagg turned a wrench there for some time. Ron also spent time at Sunrise prior and later at Al's. Adventure also expanded into climbing and the location became a climbing gym for several years. Here the time line gets a little shifted as we move further north. I recall Psycle Path being around for a short period. There also used to be a shop up on 400 North that was not long lived. Further north on Main was the Bike and Lock Shop. Lots of Fuji road bikes in there. Rod managed The Sportsman for a long time. Remember when Panasonic made bicycles?

Moving back Downtown was Sunrise which has been in the same location for 35+ years. Al's used to be over on 100 West before they built their building out north.

Ed at EK Ekcessories owned the building at 565 North Main where he has come full circle from starting EK Ekcessories to buying the building back to open a factory EK store at the same location. In the mean time that location was Guido's Cycle and Sport which I managed for about a year. Marilyn, who is now at Al's, ran Guido's where Brian Jeppson was her service manager. Marilyn left Guido's for Al's and I took over as manager and Brian Jeppson moved to Cedar City where he has been doing a great job with Cedar Cycles for, what, 13+ years now?

I managed Guido's-I know weird name-people always wanted a large pepperoni special, and worked with Joel Peterson who worked with me at Sunrise Cyclery for a few years prior and with Steve Johnson. Joel later went to Al's where he finished up his time in the industry prior to opening his own small shop for a stint. Steve went on to work at Al's for a time and rejoin me when I went back to Sunrise Cyclery. While at Guido's I hired a great guy named Justin who is now the Midwest sales rep for Raleigh Bicycles. I still see other people from the Guido's crew at races. I left Guido's and shortly thereafter Adventure Sports bought out Guido's making that the second bike shop in that location.

I got my start in the industry at Sunrise Cyclery and worked there off and on for many years. I started as a mechanic and then sales, eventually managing it with my friend Jared. At Sunrise I worked with Brandon who now runs a shop in Park City. I met Josh Felt who is one of the best wrenches I've ever met. He would later go to Al's and then help me for a time after I bought Joyride Bikes. Kyle Isaacs started there as the bottom man on the pole and has since gone on to own a very successful shop, SBR Sports in Orem, UT. Many other faces came and went over the years at Sunrise. Scott went from Sunrise to Al's. Todd became an industry rep for Specialized then to Fuji Bicycles and now with a company that distributes LED lights. Paul Vaslet now writes mortgage loans here in town and has a company that makes some cool changing tents. One noteworthy co-worker was Jim Clonts. Jim was a very exacting and skilled mechanic who quickly grew his own following which would form the basis of Joyride Bikes which opened in the back of Great Harvest a long time ago.

After Guido's I was out of the industry for a time. I came back with the intention of buying Sunrise Cyclery. After that not working out I was back to finish my formal education. I sold drugs, legally for Johnson & Johnson, took 90 days to realize it wasn't for me and I planned to go back to school to get even smarter. That's when Jim and Michelle Clonts called me. After seven hard years of building Joyride Bikes into a successful business they were ready to move on and I became owner of Joyride Bikes.

It's been a fast-moving, merry-go-round. Sunrise Cyclery ended up with three employees owning bike shops throughout Utah. Several people became semi-lifers with 10+ years in shops and some working at 2-3 shops in Logan. Many other great guys and gals made their ways through college while spreading the love of two wheels.

So there is a multi-directional and convoluted wander through the history of Logan bike shops according to myself. Please feel free to comment any details the reader may remember. It's been great meeting these friends, sharing their love of life and the experience on two wheels. Sometimes we lead sometimes we follow, but it's always better to have great friends to share the journey with.

Some cyclocross results...

CX season is well under way with only four race days left in the season. In my opinion this is one of the most demanding forms of racing a person can choose to participate in. Ups and plenty of downs. Crashes, bad starts, bad sprints, and plenty of tough competition. It's been said and I'll repeat, this is not a sport for the weak.

The Utah State Championships were just held and many on the Joyride Bikes Team had a great showing. The season has seen us with lots of top-tens and some tough showings. Beth has been fighting in the women's A's, Dan had ridden tough in the men's A's with a really hard crash, Brad B. has been a machine in the B's with a full schedule-that's why Brad has always been fast. Robert Hamlin has been awesome in the 45 masters... fair warning to anyone who plans to keep up with him. Brian has come on very strong in the single speed after several-year absence from racing 'cross. Brian H. is the Energizer Bunny. He'll ride five hours, climb 6000' and do it again the next day. He consistently doubles up on race day and always pushes himself. Local powerhouse Johnny B. has been where he usually is-at the front. Myself has had one good showing in Idaho and one in the 35+ masters in Utah, the rest-not so good. Graysen has been on the podium of every junior race he's entered this season.

John Burton is our 2010/11 2nd place in single speed (these guys are fast!). Congrats out to all the team for a strong showing so far. For the rest of you enjoy this photo montage that should convince anyone that bike racing is not easy.

http://www.pdxcross.com/galleries/barton-park-last-cross-crusade-race-of-the-season/

Why do we sell what we sell?

Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Giant, Scott, Felt, Bianchi, Intense, Santa Cruz, Kona, Yeti, Serotta, Pinarello... the list goes on. And on.

All of us here at Joyride Bikes are riders first. Some of us race, some commute, some just cruise. We sell what we, as riders, want to ride. In Kory's 15+ years as in industry person and Brian's 12+ along with everyone else in the store we have seen, ridden and sold it all. There is a difference. A Pinarello does things in a unique way that other brands do not. While a Bianchi may have some similarities, neither is a Trek. Roast beef ==> prime rib ==> filet mignon==>?? For those that are omnivores, can you tell the difference? Both will satiate the palate but they do it in a different way. (For those of other dietary preferences I'll leave you to your own analogy.)

I'll elaborate some, my personal experience sums to 70+ nice bikes I have personally owned. Titanium, carbon fiber, steel, aluminum, mixed construction and all have been Ultegra or Dura Ace, SRAM Red, Rival or Force and Campagnolo Chorus to Record. That doesn't even begin to count the bikes I've demoed and otherwise learned about. The includes the big brands and many that most have never heard of. I've ridden about every wheelset out there. I'm certainly not stating this to indicate that I am the end-all when it comes to bicycle expertise. Just that I can take my expertise and adapt it to help you find the very best bike for your needs. That is really what Joyride Bikes is about.

Value is another thing we take seriously here at Joyride Bikes. We pay for our stuff too and appreciate getting the best bike for our dollar. We look at the variety of components and weigh the overall package of fit, ride quality and performance to help guide people to the best bike they can find. Not all carbon fiber is the same. Fit does vary tremendously among brands. We'll help you sort and figure it out.

The next time we are asked by a customer is a Pinarello is really as nice as brand 'X', we'll have an answer for that customer. The answer will be 'yes' and if desired there is an accompanying explanation to go along with it. How much time have you got?

Yes, we 29.

We get it. We have for a long time. We don't wax evangelical about the virtues of 29er wheels and consider anything else a kids bike but we have owned, ridden and compared 29er bikes for the better part of 10 years.

There is a movement to push 29er bikes into the establishment with most every manufacturer offering a bike. Even some than openly criticized the notion of wagon wheels only a few years ago have now jumped in and their marketing departments try to convince us they were on board all along. No longer the domain of single speeders and pariahs with Unabomber-like beards. There is a 29er for all.

We offer Felt Racing with some of the most solid values in twenty-nine inch bikes starting at $599.99. Others have sold $599.99 bikes before but they were fairly junky. The Felt beats everything we've seen close to that price-from anybody. Rocky Mountain offers 29ers in every variety, those that have tried have liked. GT has some monster-truck chrome-moly, rigid fork monsters that are just fun. Ride it to school. Ride it to work. Ride the trails and take it to Cape Horn if you want to. Scott takes the light and fast approach to their 29er as usual. Intense has a sweet VPP Spider 29. Serotta, Salsa and Niner have made their way out our doors with 29ers.

So the next time someone asks your opinion as their bike expert, suggest they come down and check out some of our offerings in the big-wheel category and find out what all the fuss is about.

Ventures are here!

So what do we do in the Wintertime? Funny when we get that question. One of the things that makes living in Cache Valley is the variety of outdoor activities we have to pick from. The cold and dark takes away from cycling but opens up new sports that make us better athletes and improves our fitness in ways that a single sport simply cannot.

We've quitely offered Venture Snowboards for a couple of seasons now. Venture was a brand that was easy to believe in: local manufacturing-they do everything in house in Silverton, Colorado; a green ethos that germinated way before the recent fad of companies being environmentally conscientious; they are a small company, Klem and Lisa own the brand. Everything is done by them and their crew in house. A tight knit crew and they ride and manufacture the stuff they want to ride. A good outcome is a foregone conclusion when the you want to ride the best and own your own company.

We're proud to shout out and bring to Cache Valley the best splitboards, and solids, on the market. I've owned, ridden and demoed about everything. The Venture boards stand apart and just like the way a truly dialed mountain bike does, makes every ride more enjoyable and opens up new terrain. Snowboarders can now split and tour almost as fast as skiers and enjoy the flow of riding sideways down our local inbound and outbound terrain. So for those that see the madness in why we choose the brands we do, come in and check out the craftsmanship and design that stokes our fires the other five months out of the year. If anyone is so inclined talk to Kory about a demo and start to discover where your own two legs can take you this Winter.