By Lawrence Emerson
FauquierNow.com Editor

Just as the “Great Recession” reached its depth, new opportunities opened for his business.

“I really saw it take off in 2008,” says Bob Leftwich, owner of The Bike Stop that opened Dec. 15 in Warrenton.

“It” refers to the triathlon market, which has boomed in this region, with amateur athletes competing in endurance challenges that combine swimming, biking and running.

Mr. Leftwich provides a mobile bicycle mechanic service, “Race Day Tech” at Virginia Triathlon Series events. He rents wetsuits and super-light bike wheels that retail for $2,000.

“Those ($100) rentals often turn into sales,” he says.

He has a 16-foot box truck and tents to cover 1,000 square feet, creating a repair shop and store in the field.

That devotion to the emerging triathlete market translates into customers for his new store in the Warrenton Village Center and the original shop in Culpeper.

Actually, The Bike Stop has come back to Warrenton.

Mr. Leftwich closed his first Warrenton shop in 2005. After four years, his landlord wanted to triple the rent for a relatively obscure spot, the “old creamery” on South Fourth Street, near the Warrenton Branch Greenway trailhead.

He pulled back to Culpeper and continued to serve a fair number of Fauquier customers. Mr. Leftwich had developed strong ties through his help with the Fauquier Trails Coalition’s “Great Pumpkin Ride” fund-raiser, Rappahannock Rough Ride, supporting the Fauquier Free Clinic, the Bike Virginia tours and regional cycling clubs.

About the same time, The Cycle Center opened in Warrenton. But, that shop closed late last fall.

The wheels started turning.

Customers suggested he again look at Warrenton.

Fauquier’s population and physical fitness opportunities had grown considerably.

“It’s better this time,” Mr. Leftwich says. “The WARF (Warrenton Aquatics and Recreational Facility) wasn’t here before . . . . Our customer base has grown. It makes sense to come back here, because there’s a lot more enthusiasm for cycling than I’ve seen before.”

He started looking at potential locations in early December.

In about two weeks, The Bike Stop opened a 1,200-square-foot store in a much higher-traffic location than before, near the Radio Shack and Rankin’s Hardware in the Warrenton Village Center.

“I think it’s a really good location,” the shop owner says. “With Tropical Smoothies, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports and Olympia Sports, we’re talking to a lot of the same people.”

That worked well when Gainesville resident Charles Bonner visited the shopping center on Dec. 27.

Seeking to buy cycling shoes and cleats for his spinning class at Gainesville Sport & Health, Mr. Bonner went to Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, which specializes in outdoor — but not cycling — gear.

A clerk there sent him to the new bike shop.

“I didn’t even know the place was here,” Mr. Bonner said. “But, the guy (Will Thomas) was very helpful and a I got what I needed. I’m happy.”

In its first week, the Warrenton shop also sold a $5,500 bicycle, a woman’s Christmas present to her husband.

The average bike in the shop costs considerably less, in the $500 to $700 range. The Bike Stop stocks a full range of Cannondale and Trek models.

The choices and technological changes multiply at a dizzying pace. Customers can choose among mountain bikes, touring bikes, comfort road bikes, cycle cross bikes and others.

Prices start at about $300, including tiny children’s models with training wheels, and go up to $11,000 for the Cannondale SuperSix EVO, which has the lightest carbon frame of any production bicycle.

Mr. Leftwhich sees older, more affluent customers getting serious about cycling.

“Like with Bike Virginia, it used to be riders in their mid-30s. Now, many of them are in their mid-50s.”

With this region’s proximity to the mountains, along with popular biking routes and trails, he sees enormous potential.

“We’re gonna rock it here,” the 47-year-old predicts. “You can buy a bike anywhere. But, to get the support and the service, that’s what we offer.”

The Bike Stop claims loyal customers from several states.

“We’ve got to be pretty special if people are going to drive past 20 bike shops to get here.”

He expects to sell about 200 bikes a year in Warrenton and to outgrow the shopping center space, for which he has a one-year lease.

Building The Bike Stop’s customer base “has always been about word of mouth,” Mr. Leftwich says. “And word of mouth now is electronic. They’re really finding me online, and social media is definitely a spot where we’re gonna take off.”

Facebook and Twitter soon will be part of his marketing mix.

It all started 28 years ago. The 1984 Culpeper High School graduate began fixing bikes on the side, while working full-time as a computer technician at Communications Corp. of America near the Culpeper-Rappahannock County line.

Soon, the bicycle repair work eclipsed his day job and Mr. Leftwich opened a Culpeper shop. The business has grown steadily.

He employs two full-timers in Warrenton, three in Culpeper and a handful of part-timers. Working almost every day, Mr. Leftwich plans to spit his time between the shops.

His wife Rebecca works as a legal secretary but also handles the company books.

What does he outside of work?

“For fun, I really dig mountain biking.”

> Sign up for e-mail news alerts from FauquierNow.com