Cochrane’s Bike Bros. had a bit of déjŕ vu last week, when they received some great news about their local shop.
For the second year in a row, Bike Bros. was named one of Canada’s best cycling shops by Canadian Cyclist.
Cycling fans cast nearly 6,000 votes over a 10-day period to select the best bike shops in several regions of Canada. Bike Bros. were voted number one in their region of Alberta.
“I think the staff are what makes the difference,” said owner Graham Pye of how they earned the top spot once again. “Everyone is there because they do genuinely want to see people get the most out of their bikes. It is not just a job or a passing fancy. They want to be involved in something they can feel good about being a part of.”
A news release on the Canadian Cyclist website said that there were two things in particular that the top ranked stores in Canada had in common – customer service and a passion for cycling.
Other winners for Alberta were BikeBike in Calgary and Pedalhead Road Works in Edmonton.
Pye did admit that he was a bit surprised by the win, because as noted on the Canadian Cyclist website, voting was up by 50 per cent this year with over 200 shops receiving nominations.
Pye said he thought shops with more of a massive social media network would have a better chance for reaching out to people for votes.
He said that Bike Bros.’ win showed just how dedicated their customers really are.
The shop was started 12 years ago in Calgary, but in 2006, Pye said they made the move to Cochrane for a combination of reasons.
The only bike shop the town had at the time had just closed, and moving to Cochrane also gave them access to brands they weren’t able to access in Calgary.
He explained that shops in the city are limited in what they can sell because the different suppliers protect their products so that competing shops don’t end up with the same brands.
“By being in Cochrane we had free reign. We can sell what we believe in and not just what is available to us,” Pye said.
Pye said he believes Cochrane has a good cycling community with more people making cycling a lifestyle choice. Whether that means being able to hop on a road bike at their front door or having places like Canmore and Bragg Creek close by, he said it all adds up to having a good active culture here.
As for how the shop would be celebrating the second win, Pye said he hasn’t had too much time to think about that yet.
“We will certainly celebrate as staff,” he said, “and we will be thanking our customers, because we know that they are the ones who were voting.”
