Throwback Thursday: How has the Denver-area bike market changed since 2011?

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Stores have closed, sold, opened, remodeled and expanded since BRAIN's Dealer Tour of the Denver area in 2011. And we've all gotten a little older.

Since our first tour in 2008, BRAIN has visited more than 300 retailers, in 24 markets, on our periodic pedal-powered expeditions around the U.S. and Canada. In our December magazine, we will take a look back at some of the markets we previously visited. We'll touch base with retailers we featured to assess what has worked and what hasn't and how the markets and the industry have changed.

We are also giving our web readers a chance to weigh in. Over the next few weeks, on Throwback Thursdays and Flashback Fridays, we are going to re-run some of our previous Dealer Tour print coverage on the web (in the form of pdf's of the multi-page magazine features). We invite folks from those markets to enjoy a look back. Feel free to leave comments if you think there's someone in that market we should talk to before writing our update story. You can also contact the BRAIN editor who is researching and writing the update for each market.

On the 2011 Denver area tour, we visited and profiled Boulder Cycle Sport, University Bikes, Bicycle Village, Vecchio's and Full Cycle in Boulder; Giant Cycling World in Littleton; Bike Source, Treads, Bicycle Outfitters, Campus Cycles, and Salvagetti Bicycle Works in Denver; Golden Bike Shop in Golden and Wheat Ridge Cyclery in Wheat Ridge.

We know one of the stores (Salvagetti's) has closed — but its owner has moved on to an interesting project. At least three stores have changed ownership and several expanded. Since the tour, an outdoor velodrome has opened in nearby Erie, an indoor track in Boulder has closed, and several new bike parks have been constructed around the region. Fat bikes became a big thing and then ... not so much. Many multi-business bicycle communities have sprung up, including two in Boulder, testing a new model that brings consumers closer to entrepreneurial manufacturers and service providers.

Colorado Front Range resident Steve Frothingham, BRAIN's web editor, is writing the update story. He can be reached at sfrothingham@bicycleretailer.com.

More information: PDF of 2011 magazine feature.