Dream on two wheels
Banks Bikes equips cyclists to explore the great outdoors
With endless dirt roads, rail trails, narrow bridges, jumpoffs and flanked on both sides by steep ridges, the Annapolis Valley is a mountain biker’s heaven.
Cyclists are increasingly tackling that terrain with gravel bikes – also known as adventure bikes – that are designed for a variety of surfaces on roads less travelled.
“Gravel bikes have been the fastest growing sector of the industry for past half dozen years,” says Colin Banks, owner of Banks Bikes in Wolfville. “I actually stopped carrying road bikes four years ago.”
With disc brakes and lighter gearing for uphill cycling, gravel bikes have the perfect design for tricky terrain and for multi-day, off-road excursions.
Fat bikes are another growing niche in the cycling world. With wide tires that run on low pressure, fat bikes are designed to float across surfaces like snow or wet sand where normal bikes would sink. This makes them ideal for winter cycling.
“The tire acts like a giant snowshoe, so you can ride a fat bike in just about any type of conditions,” Banks says. “As people look for more things to do outdoors they’ve become really popular.”
With the coming of spring, people are bringing their bikes in to the shop for tune-ups and repairs. The pandemic has had an impact on the cycling sector, creating a huge demand, but a shortage of supply. That trend has continued into 2021, Banks says, with bicycle manufacturers unable to keep up with the demand as people look for alternatives to their normal activities.
“Last year we were down to one bike in the entire store,” Banks recalls. “The only advantage we have this year is that we know it’s coming. We will move everything we can get our hands on, but we can’t get our hands on enough bikes.”
Banks recommends customers get their name on a list if they are interested in acquiring a bike this year.
“We’ve probably got about 25 bikes on the floor right now, but in a normal year we’d have 150 to 200 bikes,” he says. “If you get your name on the list we don’t hold you to it when the bike comes in – it just means you get the first kick at the can.”
Another big trend is the electric bike, or e-bike, that has an integrated electric motor to assist with propulsion.
“Riders can now go places they may have been hesitant to go before, because now they have help,” Banks says. “You still have to pedal, but what you get from your effort is increased exponentially.”
The e-bikes are popular with cyclists all ages, and not just the stereotypical “rider of a certain age.” To encourage people to drive less and cycle more, the Nova Scotia government is now offering a $500 rebate on the purchase of an e-bike.
An e-bike will open up new venues and adventure possibilities for cyclist, Banks points out.
“People will now go places they may have hesitated to go before,” he says. “You’re still exerting the same effort – you’re just going further with that effort.”
Following his career as a bike mechanic at several Nova Scotia locations, Colin Banks opened the shop on Feb. 7, 2015. A New Minas native, Banks says Wolfville was a natural for a bike shop location.
“I may be biased, but I believe the Valley offers the best cycling in the Maritimes,” he says. “Whatever style of biking you like to do – road, dirt, gravel, mountain – we have it here.”
“Gravel bikes have been the fastest growing sector of the industry for past half dozen years. I actually stopped carrying road bikes four years ago.”
Colin Banks