Damian - El Presidente of Quality-eh

I stalked Damian for years. He wanted to work at the shop. We wanted him at the shop but somehow the timing never worked until 2010.

He has formal training in bike mechanics and won't let anything but the best of quality come out of the service shop. He chose to work in the bicycle industry to combine his love of bikes, mechanics and doing things properly.

Damian's fan club is growing. The reason we pursued Damian is his devotion to great work. Whether fixing or selling a bike, Damian is thorough and has the customer's best interests in mind. He is a total Bike Bro.!

Andrew

Andy is our New Zealand import. He gives the shop an international feel. Andy loves riding and cars. His attitude couldn't be any more perfect for Bike Bros because he has a genuine interest in putting people on bikes that will make them happy - and he has been known to cause the occasional chuckle and minor spewing of milk through the nostrels with his sense of humor. Seriously, this dude is a rare breed. He loves racing mountain bikes, trains often on his road bike but still can speak to people without sounding like an ass. If you can understand a Kiwi accent...

Kyle

I don't know how we lucked out, but we somehow got Kyle to move to Cochrane from Ontario. It was a total leap of faith for both parties involved. After a bunch of emails back and forth and one long phone conversation. He left behind an insurance career to be in the bicycle world and enjoy the mountains. Bike Bros got lucky! Kyle LOVES helping people discover bikes and it shows. We have all learned from Kyle because he used to be much like many of our customers - keen about bikes but not into the jargon.

Keith - wise beyond his years

Staffing a bike shop is pretty difficult. Most potential employees have no real mechanical skills and are brain-washed by the stupid marketing. Keith is a rare breed because he is relatively young, yet is amazing with tools and researches and actually thinks about all the products out there. Keith is a knowledgeable guy and likes dealing with customers.

Keith likes to wear his pants half-way down his ass and likes riding his BMX or hardtail at the skatepark, so we get good street cred with the younger peeps. We look forward to seeing Keith's future unfold (he's a smart guy) and can't wait to hear him say, "I can't believe I wore pants like that". Until then we're glad he's on the team.

Darren

We've known Darren for a while. I believe he switched forks on his bike in the parking lot shortly after we met him (when he was a young lad I don't think he liked us or was scared of us or something). Darren has been part of the team for a few years now. If this was Gilligan's Isle I think he'd be the professor with dreams of being both the professor and Thurston Howell III. Darren is an engineering student with long term goals of ruling the world. When not doing Calculus or working on bicycles Darren will almost certainly be found riding a bike or working on a VW.

Carson

Carson is our newest addition - if almost a year is new. All those people who moan about the "new generation" not knowing how to work hard are wrong. Carson works hard here, at school and on his BMX bike. He's one of our best local riders at the skatepark. He has gotten great training from everyone he works with and knows how to assemble a quality bike. Next step, getting him helping people on the floor...

Andrea: Mrs. boss

This is my better half. Andrea can sometimes be found in the shop helping people but is more often gazing at a screen with "the numbers" on it. She looks after the bookeeping and keeping me organized and often cleans up when I'm in the shop late at night doing emergency repair work to someone's bike. She's the one who allowed me to leave my "real job" to start a bike shop in 2003.

Bike Bros Owner and Web Nerd: Graham (me)

This picture pretty much sums up what I'm about. Me, taken from a viewpoint, during a break in a mountain bike ride, with my lady in Rossland, BC.

You'll notice I have glasses. Websites don't build themselves. Web nerds wear glasses. So do former Industrial Engineering Technologists and people who think business is neat. I'm guilty of all of these things.

The picture was taken during a mountain bike ride. Well, I love bikes. My life has been consumed, ever since my little dutch scooter, with two-wheeled toys. I started working in bike shops in (if I remember correctly) 1985. I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by Spoke & Blade for my BMX skills so they gave me a chance to assemble bikes. Since then I worked for a few different bike shops, a bike manufacturer, performed and competed on my BMX in Canada and the U.S.,... Anyways, for all but 5 of the last 25 years I have been involved in the bike industry.

As I mentioned, the picture was taken in Rossland, BC. Rossland is an awesome, historic, authentic town. I'm a big fan of historic mining towns. I'm also a fan of anything authentic. I believe Bike Bros is authentic. We aren't about hype. We are about passing along our love for bikes. Like a shop in one of those awesome historic towns, we believe in personal service, getting to know our customers, offering quality products and services. Bike Bros is authentic.

Alumni: Michael Gibson, Mr. 29er

Many of you have had the pleasure of dealing with Mike over the years. We had great times. Mike is now pursuing a career as a Paramedic. Keep your eyes open - Mike is still around and an official shop ambassador. If you happen to have a serious injury and get emergency medical care, don't be surprised if you end up with a Bike Bros. business card in your pocket.

Are YOU the next Bro?

Employment Opportunity in a bicycle shop

Yes, we're always looking for the next Bro. You need a passion for bikes, a knowledge of bike fixing and building and a burning desire to keep people off of crappy bikes. Every customer is potentially turned into someone who loves bicycles, or turned off of bikes because of snooty-bike-shop-guy service. Snoots ain't welcome here.

The Bike Bros Story

My philosophy about small business is that any small business should have a story. If our story was, "a place that sells bikes", we'd be sure to fail.
Our story is this, Bike Bros is a bike shop focused on two things;

1. Offering exceptional personal service that leaves customers with that warm fuzzy feeling like they have just dealt with a friend who really cares.

2. Researching and selecting top performing products and brands that last and represent good value.

Being located in Cochrane means we have access to virtually any brands or product lines we want. We aren't subject to the same industry politics that shops in larger cities have to put up with. Those city shops are limited in what they can sell because the different suppliers protect their brands so competing shops near each other don't end up with the same brands. So here we are, outside Calgary, we research what we sell and are very proud to sell what we sell.

We research what we sell. We sell products that have earned our trust. We avoid some high-profile brands that are actually substandard - even though their marketing would tell you otherwise.

Why Bike Bros?

We're Wonderful

This business is built on passion for and knowledge of bicycles and cycling. We're bike geeks - this is our calling in life. We eat, sleep, talk and ride bicycles. This gives us the ability, after finding out about you and your cycling desires, to match you with a bicycle that will put a smile on your face.

Boy, can we turn a wrench

Bicycles are delivered to the store in a box - needing assembly. How much difference can assembly make? Well even a bike worth $4000 can feel terrible without expert assembly. Like a $20 box of Lego - a bike can end up as a masterpiece or nothing at all - all depending on assembly.

We're Special

Lastly, there is that indescribable "something" about dealing with a small, owner operated business. Each dollar you spend says something about what you value. If you value performance, quality and service then Bike Bros. is for you.

We don't listen to Marketing guys

Apparently, if I were a marketing genius, I would try to turn my sentences around so you would see the word "you" more often than the word "I" or "we". That isn't exactly the case here is it? That is because I'm selfish and proud. "I" only want the best for my customers. "we" are the people who can make the difference between you buying a piece of crap or a happy making machine. "We" care less about marketing BS than about "your" bike. "you" are inteligent enough to see through fancy sentence structure. hah!.Oh, and while I'm babbling - to any english teachers out there - see, I can communicate effectively - that 67% you gave me in grade 12 english doesn't really matter now, does it!