It’s a good problem: I can’t catch every business at the moment it appears. Too many businesses open every month in and around downtown for me to chronicle here. This particularly is true once you leave the immediate downtown area and consider adjacent neighborhoods and districts. South Knoxville, in particular, tests my capacity to follow along. Bear Paw Bikes at 3726 Sevier Heights Rd offers a case in point: They opened last June and I’m just now getting to them.
Trent Deel, Jeff Rowe, and Eric Greaser opened the business as partners. Each of them has a long history with cycling and the three met a local shop where Trent and Jeff worked. United by their love of the sport, they decided to open a business when they saw the opportunity at Baker Creek Bottoms. The unique possibilities it presented could not be ignored.
Trent grew up in Knoxville, graduating from Bearden High School and from UT just this past May, with an industrial engineering degree. He’s been working at bike shops for years and ridden since he was twelve, primarily mountain biking. “I love the trails here and have ridden all the systems in Knoxville. Owning a business in the sport he loves “feels right.
Jeff has lived in Knoxville for over twenty years, having grown up in the Midwest and moved here directly from Wisconsin. He originally taught, later ran a non-profit, and moved to Knoxville to run a company here. He soon started a business of his own, but the economic contraction in 2008 and his second diagnosis of cancer “changed everything for me. It took away my ability to ride.
Last year, after brain surgery, I learned about adaptive riding, so now I get to ride on the trails again, but I do it on three wheels.” He laughed and said, “I crash a lot and I do it very well!” He said it was a struggle to think about working beside the trails and not being able to ride. “This is my way of celebrating life, being around bikes every day. Bikes have been a huge part of my life since I was nine. Whether it’s working, owning, or hanging out in a bike shop, it’s an absolute blast.”
I wasn’t able to speak directly to Eric, but learned that he’s from Blount County and attended Maryville College. After living other places, he returned to the area.
The three had a similar vision for what they wanted in the store. Trent said, “When you work in a bike shop in Knoxville and you know about mountain biking and you hear about a shop going in at Baker Creek, it’s a no-brainer. A typical business path is you think about a business plan and you find a location. Here the business plan is all about the location. It just made sense.”
Jeff said he was first involved with a bike shop in the 90’s and he missed it. “This opportunity was something different. Rather than functioning as a local bike shop, we get to operate as more of a destination shop, where our focus is serving the needs of the riders when they are here.” They offer quick repairs to get riders back on the trail which, though they do repairs for others, becomes the priority. He said they have people who travel for hours or more to get here and they don’t want a broken chain or busted tire to end their trip. He said he loves the positive energy out-of-town guests bring to the trails and the store.
He said they’ve gotten a number of visitors from other states, some of whom have made return visits. “They bring a different feel and I feed off of that.” He said with food options and support for their bikes if they need it, a family can easily spend the entire day having fun on their bikes.
In addition to bike repair (and bike repair was underway as we spoke), the shop offers everything for replacing damaged parts or simply upgrading to a better quality or tricking your bike out. They offer a wide assortment of gloves which have been a big selling, as that’s an easy thing to forget to bring. They have helmets, pedals, seats, tires, and much more for upgrading or replacing. They also offer a range of gifts for the cyclist themed both for the store, as well as Baker Creek Preserve and the Urban Wilderness.
The shop sells and rents Norco bikes and rents them, as well, though they repair any brand. The rentals include “a hard tail mountain bike, full suspension mountain bikes and two e-bikes.” Options for rental include two hours, a full day rental, and a two day rental. Reservations for the bikes may be logged via the website.
Jeff point out that a lot of visitors come because they’ve seen a specific thing on Youtube like, “Baker Creek, or they come here for the downhill rides . . . but when they get here they realize, ‘Wow, there’s fifty-eight miles of trails!’ and there are more trail systems around here. All of the sudden, Knoxville as a whole becomes a destination for them, not just Baker Creek . . . Most places, when your ride is done, you go elsewhere . . . That’s what makes Knoxville so unique.”
They’d love to see you check out their amazing stock and maybe pick up a gift for the cyclist on your Christmas list. The store is open weekdays from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.