<\/p>\n
The top-selling bikes at local shops show the sport is growing in popularity and riders are investing fat bikes, which were once dismissed as a novelty.<\/p>\n
A co-owner of Kokopelli Bike and Board, Pete Eschallier, attributes the growing popularity to local trail systems including Phil\u2019s World.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that trail system didn\u2019t exist, we wouldn\u2019t be as big as we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
An informal survey of local shops show that riders in Cortez and Durango have different tastes and requirements. Most of the popular bike styles favor 29-inch wheels that increase a rider\u2019s ability to handle rocky terrain and maintain speed.<\/p>\n
Many customers of Kokopelli Bike and Board in Cortez are new to the sport, buying more entry-level bikes than other local shops in the region. The top-selling models have front-end suspension only and wheels 29-inch wheels. Known as hardtail 29ers, these bikes start at $550.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fits-all-skill-levels kind of bike,\u201d said Scott Darling, a co-owner.<\/p>\n
Bikes with full-suspension and 29-inch wheels have claimed second place in sales at Kokopelli. They appeal to more serious riders with a bit more to spend on a bike.<\/p>\n
In third place at Kokopelli are fat bikes. With smaller, wider wheels, they lend themselves to riding across snow and sand. The wheels are 26 inches in diameter and are 4 inches across and come with a hardtail or full suspension.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most-asked questions in the shop is: What are those tires for?\u201d Eschallier said.<\/p>\n
For years, the bikes were a joke and preferred by shop mechanics. But now people come in looking for them, he said.<\/p>\n
One of those mechanics was Durango Cyclery\u2019s Garrett Alexander, who started racing them six years ago. He said the tire width is not an advantage in a race, but they have all-around versatility.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows for a more supple ride and allows for the tire to morph around anything,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n
At Lizardhead Cyclery in Dolores the No. 1 seller is a Breezer Supercell, a new bike with full suspension and 29-inch wheels, said owner Nicholas I.T. Jones. These bikes run above $2,000.<\/p>\n
The Breezer Repack, which has a 27.5-inch wheel and full suspension, came in second. It gained praise from customers for handling like a dirt bike going downhill while seeming to pull the rider uphill as if there was a dog on a leash leading the way, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever you think you can\u2019t handle, the bike will let you do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Bikes with a 27.5-inch wheel, sometimes called a 27B, are favored by downhill bikers and are replacing 26ers across the industry, a shop owner in Durango said.<\/p>\n
At Lizardhead, third place went to a hardtail 29er, called the Breezer Storm, which is the least expensive of the three.<\/p>\n
At Mountain Bike Specialists in Durango, owner Jeremy Thompson, said in that in general, full-suspension and 29-inch wheels are favored. His best-sellers share these qualities because the most popular local trails \u2013 including the Colorado Trail and the Telegraph Trail System \u2013 are fairly technical.<\/p>\n
As for fat bikes, he doesn\u2019t see them moving from the fringe to mainstream yet.<\/p>\n
The long-term trend in Durango is that customers are shifting away from road biking to mountain biking.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoad biking is somewhat less sexy and appealing than mountain biking,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n