ATLANTA (BRAIN) — The second day of BRAIN's Dealer Tour of Atlanta took BRAIN editors, tour sponsors and guests on a hilly 36-mile route as we visited four shops. After a rainy start to the Atlanta tour on Tuesday, we enjoyed dry and warming conditions on Wednesday; some locals said it was the warmest day of the year so far.
Our route gave us a small taste of the Silver Comet Trail, a 100-mile paved multi-use rail trail that starts just outside the Atlanta perimeter in Smyrna and extends more than 60 miles to the Alabama/Georgia state line, where it becomes Alabama's Chief Ladiga trail and keeps going another 33 miles.
Our first stop of the day was Smyrna Bikes, a store that likely would not exist without the Silver Comet Trail —its partners, Tom Butler and Brown Loper, met on the trail and eventually opened the shop in 2006. On Wednesday we also stopped by Peachtree Bikes, a higher end road and mountain bike shop that inhabits a sprawling, nearly 100-year-old brick house; Atlanta Cycling's Ansley location, another spacious shop that carries everything from high-end Moots mountain bikes to Electra Townies; and finally, Performance Bikes' Atlanta location, just off the Northeast Expressway.
As with the shops we visited Tuesday, all the retailers we spoke with Wednesday said improved bike infrastructure in recent years has caused a bit of cycling renaissance in Atlanta. The Beltline Trail and other improvements have increased bike use by families; a manager at Atlanta Cycling, for example, said the store has added more family-friendly bikes to respond to the change.
Watch for full coverage of the Dealer Tour in BRAIN's April 1 edition. You can follow along this week on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (hashtag #braindealertour).
The three-day Dealer Tour continues Thursday with a trip North to Roswell to visit Roswell Bicycle and CycleWorks; we'll also visit All3Sports and Free-Flite Bicycles in Sandy Springs. Call us wimps if you want, but with rain and temperatures dropping into the 30s forecast for Thursday, the Dealer Tour crew will likely take to vans for at least part of the day.
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Smyrna Bikes has been in its current location — a former Starbucks, complete with drive-thru window — since 2010. -
Smyrna Bikes' van is about the store's only advertising. -
ASI sales rep Brady Rogers scores a hard-fought sprint victory ahead of a motivated field. No interviews, please. -
Smyrna Bikes sacrificed two boxes of Krispy Kremes to the Dealer Tour gods, and will enjoy great health and success as a result. -
Yet another bike shop bike nut. -
Hutchinson's Roy Hough and Interbike's Justin Gottlieb exchange shaving tips via a Vulcan Mind Meld. -
Smyrna Bikes co-owner Brown Loper (l) shares some fishing tales with BRAIN's Matt Wiebe. -
The Silver Comet Trail goes all the way to Alabama. -
The Gray Shorts Gang takes the lane. -
Peachtree Bikes moved into this spacious house after its previous location burned down. -
Normally mountain bike shoes are recommended for Dealer Tours, but some folks can't seem to dress down. -
ASI's Frank Zimmer gets comfy at Peachtree. -
Peachtree's service area enjoys ample natural light and spectator seating. -
Atlanta Cycles does pro fits and pre-test ride fits on its Guru machine.
