As Whitehorse bike shop closes, owner reflects on the ride

Dean Eyre has seen a lot of bikes roll through the front door at Cadence. He says getting to work with the community of cyclists in the Yukon has been a gratifying part of the business. So there's people who've been coming here for almost 20 years and people whose kids you've seen grow up and have their own kids and so a lot of that is quite nice and if we can solve problems and lots of times we can like it's pretty satisfying. Eyre made the call to close when he could not find anyone interested in buying and taking over the shop. He says the bike industry has grown more convoluted and the current trade tensions haven't helped. There's definitely things that have gone up that have doubled in price, which I think is much higher than the rate of inflation. And I think that's... It's largely tariff related, whether it's actually tariffs in action or people pricing on the basis that maybe tariffs are going to be in action, you know, because they don't really know, because everything's ordered a year in advance. So, you know, it's hard to do that when the prices might change four times during the course before you even receive the stuff. With Cadence winding things down, the folks at Icicle Sports, a ski and bike shop, are getting ready for an increase in demand. It's a tough one because bikes coming in for service take a lot of space. So increasing the amount of storage space we have for bikes that are either waiting to be serviced or waiting to be picked up is a tricky task. So we'll just have to see how it goes. Cycling Association President Steve Biss says Cadence closing marks a loss for the community. Cadence to me was like what an old school bike shop is. You just go in and it's vibes and just it's a lovely time and they've been such a huge support for the cycling community like Dean has given so much with event organization and he's always giving draw prizes and and like nice stuff sometimes you know so it's like it's really going to be a loss for us at the association level. Back at Cadence, Eyre thanks his family and everyone who has worked at the shop over the years. They helped to make it what it is. It's a reflection of all of our personalities. Talar Stockton, CBC News, Whitehorse.