Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 3, March 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

All About Bike and Ski:

Only the name is new

By JAMES BUSH

After a decade working at Al Young's Laurelhurst bike and ski shop, Robert Holmes was considering a new career in real estate.

It was right then that his longtime boss surprised him with a proposal to sell him the business. "I tried to see it as fate," says Holmes, but the slow economy complicated the decision.

However, he realized that the key to any successful business is a loyal customer base: something he'd already helped establish during his ten years working at the shop. Holmes took over the business in April 2002.

He had already left his mark on the shop that longtime Roosevelt High School teacher Young had founded. In the mid-1990s, Holmes had worked hard to expand the store's ski rental business. Armed with a few ads in the Yellow Pages and prices competitive enough to generate word-of-mouth business, the store became a major North End ski rental outlet.

Holmes also influenced the decision to stock Fuji bicycles, after the store ended its longtime association with the Diamondback line. A hard-riding mountain bike racer, Holmes says he had gotten accustomed to breaking his frame at least once a year, when a dealer sold him a Fuji titanium frame in 1991. He ended up putting 100,000 miles on it without significant damage.

What's more, Holmes says in the three years the store has been selling Fuji products, he's still never seen a Fuji frame fail, even though a few have sustained crash damage severe enough to warrant replacement.

After taking over the business, Holmes decided he needed some way to better capture the attention of passers-by. He considered buying a new awning to showcase the store's new name, but decided if he was going to spend money, it was wiser to spend it on something he could sell. That's when he started to include a single eye-catching items in the group of bicycles set up out front to entice window shoppers.

On the day of our visit, the star of the display is a pink, streamlined 1930-style "Sky Princess" tricycle. Keeping oddball items in the display "trips up customers of the pizza place next door," he jokes, keeping them from walking by his store without a glance.

A native of Yakima, Holmes moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington and was hired as a part-timer at the bike shop in 1991. An avid mountain bike racer in the "expert" division (the only higher classification is "professional," although the two fields are often combined in smaller races), he gained a reputation for being the last racer to show up for the race, the fastest guy out of the gate, and a top finisher, if seldom the guy in first place (he did snatch several wins as a competitor, including races at White Pass and Snoqualmie, two of his favorite courses).

He enjoys telling the story of the 1992 Washington state championships, when he was in second place and was just about to pass the leader.

"I thought for sure I was the state champ, because I had bigger gears on my bike than the rest of the racers," he says. "First place was right in front of me ... and my handlebars broke in half."

In a moment, he went from would-be state champion to a rather bruised 23rd place finisher.

Does he have a happier racing story? "I had a year streak where I won the best raffle prize in every race," says Holmes. "People would shout for me to go home, because you had to be present to win."

His racing tapered off by the late 1990s, stopping altogether after he and wife, Laurie, added daughter Madison, 5, and son, Marshal, 3. "Now, most of the time, I ride with a child seat on the front and a child seat on the back," he says.

Holmes says he's enjoying the good skiing season, especially after last year's lack of snow. Although a ski rental business suffers less than a retailer in a slow year, not much snow means that skis get more beaten up and boots get walked on and suffer more wear and tear.

This year, Holmes has made a big effort to improve his rental inventory, replacing almost half of his ski boots.

In addition to selling bikes, skis (the store is a K2 ski dealer), and snowboards, All About Bike and Ski has earned a good reputation for repair work. Josh Pennell, president of North End based Internet security firm IOActive.com, pauses while dropping off his snowboard for a tuneup to add his two cents to this interview.

"Bob is the best bike mechanic out there," he says. "He's good at customer service and he's smartand that's a rare combination."

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All About Bike & Ski is located at 3615 NE 45th St.; phone: 524-2642. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays (closed Tuesday), 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.