Val Vanderpool

Val is BRAIN’s newest staff writer. She comes to the magazine with a varied background including stints as a bike shop manager, bicycle tour guide, and race and event director. She also worked as a freelance writer in the outdoor and travel industries. Most recently, she taught women’s clinics and drove a demo van, working with Giant retailers all over the west. An Idaho native who has lived all over the northwest, Val is excited about her recent relocation to sunny southern California, where she can mountain bike, trail run, and garden year round. She lives in Silverado canyon with her boyfriend Brian and their two dogs. 

All articles by Val Vanderpool

April 30, 2018
The shop also includes a customer lounge.

DES MOINES, Iowa (BRAIN) — Bike World Iowa recently moved its West Des Moines location and the company’s warehouse into a former grocery store.

Posted in Retail News
April 19, 2018

MONTEREY, Calif. (BRAIN) — Arizona will become the ninth state in three years to enact the industry's model e-bike legislation if, as expected, Gov. Doug Ducey signs a bill the state Legislature passed this week.

Posted in Industry News
April 18, 2018

BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — If the bike industry has a $1 million question, it is this: How do we get more people riding? How to stop ridership decline and reverse the trend out of the red and into the black is a giant problem that requires a solution of equally epic proportions.

Posted in Industry News
April 16, 2018
New for 2018, Vittoria’s Velar road shoe.

Editor’s note: This article appears in the festival guide for this year’s Sea Otter Classic, which starts Thursday and runs through Sunday. Visit bicycleretailer.com later this week for on-site coverage from Laguna Seca.

Posted in Product/Tech
April 10, 2018
The new store's new owners.

NEWARK, Del. (BRAIN) — On a Monday in mid-January, Tom Harvey, the owner of Wooden Wheels bike shop, announced he would close the shop. Employees Chris Denney, Robbie Downward and David Ferguson didn't see it coming.

Posted in Retail News
March 21, 2018

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BRAIN) — Retailer Kent Cranford has announced plans to open a third Motion Makers Bicycle Shop later this spring. The store will be located in Cherokee, a small town about one hour west of Asheville that serves as a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Posted in Retail News
March 8, 2018

GREENVILLE, S.C. (BRAIN) — Retailer Robin Bylenga opened Pedal Chic in 2010 to cater to female cyclists. In February, Bylenga moved the store into a larger space on the bike path in downtown Greenville, about two and half blocks from Pedal Chic's previous location.

Posted in Retail News
March 2, 2018

AURORA, Ontario (BRAIN) — BionX Canada, the maker of retrofit e-bike conversion kits, has entered into receivership. Grant Thornton, a business and advisory firm, has taken over management of the company and all business activity has been suspended.

Posted in Industry News
January 12, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. (BRAIN) — After building frames independently for almost a decade, Portland-based framebuilders Tony Pereira and Ira Ryan came together to launch Breadwinner Cycles in 2013. The pair worked out of their garages until May of 2017 when they moved into a 3,000-square-foot building in North Portland.

Posted in Retail News
January 5, 2018

NEW YORK (BRAIN) — Bike retailers up and down the East Coast are closing this week as the so-called "bomb cyclone" weather phenomenon dumped more than a foot of snow on eight states and knocked power out for tens of thousands of residents.

Posted in Retail News

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