New owner takes over LR bike shop

The wheels will keep on turning at a popular Little Rock bicycle shop — though under a new name beginning today.

Chainwheel, which has operated in Little Rock for 48 years, is no longer.

Trek Bicycle Corp. of Waterloo, Wis., has closed on the purchase of the business and opens today under its own name. The retail store is in the Colony West shopping center on North Rodney Parham Road.

Bruce Thalheimer, who coowned Chainwheel, said Thursday that he had sold the shop to Trek. Officials with Trek did not return phone calls requesting comment.

“I think this is going to be a good thing for the community,” Thalheimer said. “Trek has said they will keep all of the employees and they will serve the community in bigger ways.”

Though Trek officials were not available for comment, the Chainwheel website and Facebook page have been converted to Trek Bicycle sites.

Thursday afternoon this message was posted to Chainwheel’s Facebook page: “Chainwheel is now Trek Bicycle Little Rock, and we are so excited to join your community! We welcome you to drop by to check out the space, see familiar staff, and browse our incredible selection of bikes and gear. We can’t wait to ride with you!”

The shop is the only Trek Bicycle store in Arkansas.

The company began operations in Waterloo in 1975 and is a family-run business with 2,000 employees and more than $1 billion in sales worldwide. It is North America’s largest bicycle manufacturer and has a variety of bicycles, ranging from children’s bikes to the most advanced models available on the market.

Trek owns the Trek-Segafredo team that competes in the Tour de France.