BioWheels has ‘Raised the Bar’ in Asheville

BioWheels moved into it’s new Asheville home at 81 Coxe Avenue in June 2007 after 18 months of renovation.  When owners Matt Johnson & Eric Krause purchased the building, they decided to put their long-shared environmental philosophies into something tangible. What better than a 1920’s structure that would have been viewed as a ‘tear-down” by a typical bottom-line developer.  Eric & Matt took many of their campfire eco-musings since 1991 – with the help of the latest, affordable ‘green’ technologies and the advice of Asheville’s progressive-minded talent pool – and created Asheville’s first commercial green building.

The building and hot water is heated by the power of the sun through eight roof-mounted solar hot water panels.  Also, the efficiency of the building has kept even our highest summer electrical bills relatively low.  We realize that a building is only as green as it is efficient, so we concentrated on creating the tightest envelope possible with Energy Star rated insulation, glass and roofing.

Since our relocation, our staff has changed.  But BioWheels’ philosophy of sustainability helps to ensure that everyone you meet at BioWheels will be knowledgeable and happy.  This is because we always strive to provide a healthy and supportive working environment and pay a living wage.

In the Service Department, we have sold most of our older tools and replaced them with fresh ones. We have also replaced our mineral spirits parts cleaner (a toxic stew) with a microbial system, so the formerly filthy underbelly of our service department is now a warm soapy tub that uses the greenest cleaning technology on the planet. Our workbench tops are soapstone made from 100% recycled newspaper and our counter tops are sunflower husks – both are held together with soy-esters.  In fact, there is not a toxic surface in the building because all paints, stains and sealers are vegetable/soy-based.

Our bike vendors – Cannondale, Cervelo, Jamis, Niner, Bianchi, Ellsworth, Breezer, Ibis, Maverick, Independant Fabrications, Spot Brand, GT, Schwinn – have all given us the big ‘attaboy’ for our eco efforts.  We search for products from companies that have a strong mission of sustainability. At this time in the bicycle industry, it is impossible for us to carry ONLY ‘green’ products.  But rest assured that when there is a choice, we will stock products that closely match our eco mission.

Thanks to all of you BioWheels customers who ‘get it’! You understand that BioWheels reinvests your purchases into our entire community, not just our personal retirement, and that we are eco-conscious with our buying decisions.
Follow this final picture to a slideshow of Winter ‘08 store shots.

Follow the link for more details on BioWheels-Asheville’s Complete Construction Story

‘French Broad Fridays’ @ BioWheels-Asheville

“In tough times, its great to have a free beer.”
-BioWheels founder, Matt Johnson

At BioWheels, We Welcome Winter with Open Arms…

We’re stoked to announce French Broad Fridays at BioWheels. Starting January 9th, at 5pm every Friday night throughout the winter, we’ll tap into keg of French Broad Brewing Company’s freshest. The store will stay open until 8 pm, so you can ogle all the sweet bike stuff.  We Will Continue the French Broad Fridays all Winter long. Expect some urban fun with other cyclists, nourished by the fine taste of French Broad Brew.

Cycling Santa Sale @ BioWheels-Asheville

BioWheels wants to say “Thank you!” to all of our friends for such a great ride this year!

You are cordially invited to the BioWheels Cycling Santa Sale. This deal is for you as a friend of BioWheels, and is not advertised anywhere. As you know, we have some great gifts at BioWheels. Kids bikes, sweeeeet 29-ers, the world’s finest road bikes, racks of amazing winter clothing, bright lights, drawers full of shiny component upgrades, & on and on. So you can be Santa for every cyclist on your list, including your little self.

The sale kicks-off on Friday, December 19. We’ll open the doors @ 9:30am and everything in the store will be at least 20% off! This sale applies to in-stock items only, so its first come-first get. At 5pm we’ll tap into a keg of French Broad Brew. There’s nothing like FREE BEER to enhance your shopping experience! We’ll keep the party & the deals going until 8pm when we will all flitter off to other holiday engagements.

We’ll continue the 20% storewide discount
on all but ‘09 Cervelo’s,
until 2pm on Christmas Eve.

Also, don’t forget that BioWheels has Gift Certificates.

We encourage you to pass this invitation on to your friends & family who may be interested in our Cycling Santa Sale: