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  • Posted Jan 31, 2019

Bike Tech has been an 'unofficial shop' on Ragbrai for the last 13 years.. Well not anymore!

We are excited for Bike Tech to be an Official RAGBRAI Bike Shop and wish Brent (owner) and his staff all the luck this year in their new endeavor!

BIKE TECH IS OFFICIAL

After so many years of winning Ragbrai the powers that be have decided to split up the Spoken Wheel Cyclery team. Which is a good thing because we were having trouble finding places to put all the trophies.

Joking aside... we are beyond honored to be considered worthy of being one of the 9 bicycle retailers that is trusted by the staff at Ragbrai to provide support services for the 20,000+ riders that participate in the event each year. Bike Tech has been an 'unofficial shop' on Ragbrai for the last 13 years as Brent has taken out the Bike Tech tent and worked for Spoken Wheel Cyclery. Brent did 7 years prior to that as well before buying the store in 2006. Twenty long, but extremely fun, years of life on the road - we're hoping for another 20 years!

July is a long ways away but it's never too early to start thinking about your summer plans. We know we've got a lot of planning to do!

BIKEIOWA INTERVIEW

We asked Brent Johnson a few questions at the Iowa Bike Expo about their new plans.

Q: How many RAGBRAIs have you worked?
I've been involved with RAGBRAI one way or another for the last 20 years. I wrenched for Spoken Wheel Cyclery for 19 years, 13 of those were as owner of Bike Tech, and I did 1 year of retail sales for Europa Cycle way back in the day. Plus I have ridden plenty of miles on RAGBRAIs too.

Q: What will the Bike Tech set-up on RAGBRAI look like? (vehicles, trailers, tents, etc...)
Still working on it but for sure we will have a single truck pulling a trailer. Guessing 4-5 tents allowing for 2-3 mechanics and plenty of space for retail sales on the road and back in the campground. We're going to heavily borrow ideas from the other official stores - those guys have years of experience with various different setups.

Q: Who will run the shop while you are gone on RAGBRAI?
James will be running the shop with little interruption of our normal day to day operations. We'll slim down our repair schedule but for the most part we will be business as usual.

Q: How did Bike Tech get selected to be an official RAGBRAI shop ?
With our history, we were a highly experienced option that would need little, if any, direction from Ragbrai staff to hit the ground running on day one to provide the level of service that they expect of all their official shops. It just made sense.

Bike Tech has been sponsoring BIKEIOWA since January 2006.

OFFICIAL RAGBRAI BIKE SHOPS

These are the Official RAGBRAI® Bike Shops for 2019 as listed on RAGBRAI.

Each year these Official RAGBRAI® Bike Shops have their repair vans on the bike route taking care of the riders. Other than RAGBRAI, these bike shops are the only vendors with permission to sell official RAGBRAI t-shirts and other RAGBRAI mementos. If you need help to prepare for RAGBRAI, any of these shops will be happy to assist you.

Remember to wear your helmet whenever you are on a bike and always RIDE RIGHT®!

  • Bike Country
    825 East 1st Street
    Ankeny, IA 50021-2058
    Phone: 515-964-5623
    Web site: bikecountry.com
  • Bike World
    5003 EP True Parkway, #150
    West Des Moines, IA 50265
    Phone: 515-232-3669
    Web site: bikeworldiowa.com
  • Bikes to You
    921 Broad Street
    Grinnell, IA 50112-2047
    Phone: 641-236-8600
    Web site: bikestoyou.com
  • Harper’s Cycling & Fitness
    1106 Grandview Avenue
    Muscatine, IA 52761-1631
    Phone: 563-263-4043
    Web site: harperscycling.com
  • Letsche’s Bike Shop
    Letsche’s Bike Shop crew will be
    providing bike assembly at the
    start town only
  • Nick’s Cycling & Fitness
    203 W Agency Road, Suite C&D
    West Burlington, IA 52655
    Phone: 319-752-8480
    E-mail: nick@nickscf.com
    Web site: nickscf.com
  • Rassy’s Bike Shop (Erik’s)
    301 Grand Avenue
    West Des Moines, IA 50265-3715
    Phone: 515-277-2636
    Web site: eriksbikeshop.com/rassys
  • Roadside Bike Repair


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