Well, after 7 years of wrenching on and selling bikes in Greeley, CO we figured we should probably update our goals... our ideology, our philosophy, our doctrine... Which, come to find out hasn't changed all that much! We still love what we do. Bicycles are a part of our lives and our main goal is to bring that idea to our community and get people out of the house and onto their bikes!
Over the last six years we have figured out what works for people in Greeley and what does not. We try not to spend too much time on the latest and greatest (although that stuff is really neat and we like that too!...), rather, we listen to customers and test product ourselves. In our town, on our roads, and our trails to figure out what you need to have an enjoyable riding experience in Greeley! Doesn't seem like much until you read product reviews in magazines about certain road tires, for example, that might work great in Pennsylvania but may only last a week or so on the brutal roads of Weld County. Brutal might be a bit of a stretch, but maybe not...
We want to people to ride! Ride to the coffee shop, to the bar, to school with their children, to work. You can ride everywhere in Greeley and it doesn't take any longer than driving. In fact, some places are quicker to get to on a bicycle. There are a hundred stories of people who find piece of mind turning the pedals, it works. It's becoming more difficult in today's world to achieve that and to us it doesn't really matter how you get there, just that you arrive safely and hopefully with no flats!
Oh, and we should probably explain the name choice... We chose to name our shop after the Paris-Roubaix, one of the oldest races in cycling and the "Queen of the Classics". Raced on the mostly cobbled roads of northern France every April on roads that were drawn along the battle lines of both World Wars, it is aptly named the "Hell of the North". A brutal, one-day spring classic it produces winners of the highest caliber and nothing else. To us it hearkens back to an age when people tried harder, suffered more, and complained less! A tip of the hat from us to real racers and real men. No one less will win that race, ever.
Keep the rubber side down and remember, the journey is the destination... always!