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Trailside bicycle shop offers convenient stop
CANFIELD
Users of the Mill Creek MetroParks Bikeway now have a convenient stopping point for all of their cycling- related needs – and it is operated by two men who are passionate about cycling.
Trailside Bicycle Co., 410 W. Main St. (U.S. Route 224), opened May 1, less than 100 yards east of the bicycle trail.
Located in a former auto-detailing shop, Trailside sells bicycles and accessories and bicycle-themed jewelry, rents and repairs bicycles and supports and hosts organized rides.
The shop is operated by Bryan Ashman and Tim Knight, both avid cyclists, who previously were mechanics at another local bicycle shop.
Ashman and Knight own the shop, along with Jon Wolf.
“The community needed a shop that wanted to be involved and be active and participate in events and offer support,” Ashman said, explaining one of the reasons for opening the shop.
“Rental was very high on the list of things we wanted to be able to offer,” to benefit those who don’t have the means to transport a bike or aren’t ready to purchase one, Ashman said. Rentals from Trailside can be hourly, daily, weekend or weekly.
Regular shop hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.
“We want to make it friendly,” Knight said of the informal store atmosphere. “We’ve got stools at the bench at the service counter. Sit down. Drink your coffee. We’ll work on your bike, and we’ll talk” about bicycles, he said.
“We’re not here just for the sale,” he added.
The shop is located next to the Stone Fruit Coffee Shop, which also provides a rest stop for cyclists using the adjacent 14-mile asphalt-paved trail, which runs continuously from Western Reserve Road to downtown Niles.
“They’re so easy-going,” Sharri Brown of Canfield said of the bike shop owners. “I just bring my bike in. ... I don’t need an appointment,” Brown said as she brought her road bike into the shop for maintenance.
The shop staff immediately diagnoses, explains to the customer and repairs any defect, Brown said.
Ashman and Knight also want to accommodate cyclists outside their shop, even when it’s closed.
An outdoor vending machine will soon dispense inner tubes, patch kits, small tool kits, first-aid kits, sun block and nutritional items.
Also planned are an air pump for tire inflation, a water fountain and canopy-covered picnic table seating, all outside the shop.
“If we’re not here to help them, they can get the parts they need to get themselves back home,” Knight said of cyclists stranded by a flat tire.
Every Friday during summer, except the second Friday of the month, Trailside stays open late to accommodate a 20-mile, moderate-paced Outspokin’ Wheelmen-sponsored group bicycle ride that leaves the shop at 6:30 p.m.
To stay busy in the winter, the shop owners plan to rent cross-country skis and sell indoor fitness equipment, Knight said.