The NorthWest Bicycle Improvement Company
12 Mar 2020 1 Comment
in Inside Roslyn, Videos Tags: bicycles, bikes, mountain biking, NorthWest Bicycle Imrpovement Company, Roslyn, Washington
For owner Glenn Burkhart, the Northwest Bicycle Improvement Company (NBIC) is a labor of love. Though it opened in 2014 on 2nd street, the bicycle rental and service shop only recently moved to its current home on Pennsylvania Avenue. The bike shop rents and services bicycles and also carries a wide assortment of products to ensure you have everything you need to ride the roads or the local trails.
Glenn has enjoyed bike riding for as long as he can remember, so the most important goal of the shop is to help spread the joy of riding in Roslyn. I’m really passionate about the area. I love the climate, I love the ecology that we have here, Glenn says, Secondly, I want to support the community. The staff is always happy to provide local trail information to help you on your way. In the Spring and Summer, the NBIC also organizes group rides, often on Saturday mornings, where bikers can just show up and join a ride. It’s just an awesome, magical thing when people are group riding, enjoying each other’s company, enjoying the weather, and enjoying riding bikes. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for those opportunities and be sure to check out the interactive Roslyn trail map available on their website.
The name of the shop, NorthWest Bicycle Improvement Company (a play on the historic Northwest Improvement Company that served as the company store during Roslyn’s coal mining era) is only partially tongue and cheek. The team provides a wide set of bicycle maintenance, tune-up, and repair services to help you keep your bike performing at its best. Likewise, since the team at the shop possess decades of combined experience working on bicycles, you can be sure you’ll have only top talent repairing or optimizing your ride.
One thing visitors to Roslyn are quick to notice is the number fat tire bikes. While not exclusively used for Winter riding, fat bikes are ideal for riding in snowy conditions and they help make riding a year-round recreation. The wide tires provide more grip in the snow, and when the snow melts, they’re great for sand as well (of course, fat tire bikes are available for rent at the shop). Another emerging trend is bikepacking. As the name implies, bikepacking is like backpacking, except you load up your bike with the necessary provisions and make your escape for days at a time. If you’re feeling adventurous, a variety of gear and carrying systems are available for transforming your ride into a two wheeled caravan.
If you’re not comfortable on wheels, Snowshoes are also available for rent. However, if you’re looking to enjoy a ride in Roslyn, regardless of whether you have a bike or need a bike, there is no better place to start your adventure than the Northwest Bicycle Improvement Company! Stop by and let Glenn get you started on your Roslyn ride!
