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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A four-month-old business is picking up some traction as it steers toward fall by marking its official grand opening this past Friday.

Staff member Matt Hoover repairs a bike in the workshop at Old Town Bikeworks on Saturday afternoon. The new business, which opened this past spring, celebrated its grand opening on the weekend. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photos

Staff at Old Town Bikeworks welcomed Yellowknife residents and tourists alike to their McDonald Drive workshop throughout the weekend.

Cyclists were invited to get a free diagnostic check of their rides, including checking tire pressure.

Staff member Matt Hoover helped customers of all ages get their hands dirty as he helped facilitate a series of do-it-yourself bike repair workshops.

"It's really cool because we see 12-year-olds coming in here and helping us out, just helping to fix bikes," Hoover said. "When I was young, I'd do this sort of stuff all the time and it's good they have a place to go to do it."

Hoover said he joined Old Town Bikeworks because he wanted a hobby to work on in between studying and working on contracts as an environmental analyst. He added he worked in the bike industry for about seven years while residing in Vancouver.

More than halfway through the summer cycling season, Hoover said the business is prepared to speed through the winter toward a bigger and better season next year.

"Next summer, it'll be going full-tilt," he said. "It's just been great."

Old Town Bikeworks, which received a grant from the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment this year, had its best month in July, according to former mechanic, Old Town Glassworks and Old Town Bikeworks founder Matthew Grogono.

Old Town Bikeworks began as a six-year pilot project under the umbrella of the workers co-operative now known as Old Town Glassworks. The eco-ethic underlying the bike business inspires staff to recycle bicycle parts in creative ways, much the same way materials are re-purposed in the glass workshop.

"We're taking bikes from the waste stream and giving them back to the economy," Grogono said.

During the grand-opening, which corresponded with the seventh annual Old Town Ramble and Ride neighbourhood festival, a bike rally attracted 66 participants, mostly children under 10 years old who had decorated their bikes with streamers and stickers, Grogono said.

The next priority for the bike shop before winter hits will be to replace one of its most important spokes, service manager Emrys Prussin, who is leaving his position later this year.

- with files from Daron Letts

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