Bike Store Is on a Roll : Two Wheel Transit Authority Grows Along With Army of Riders

If you think brake shoes are for street dancing and French bottom brackets are sexy lingerie, you’ve probably never been to Two Wheel Transit Authority.

The Transit Authority is a mecca for the serious bike rider--stocked with an incredible array of stuff and now expanding from its Huntington Beach headquarters to a 15,000-square-foot Fountain Valley store.

The expansion has been fueled by a growing interest in bike riding that last year brought the company sales of almost $5 million--or more than 4,000 bicycles and related paraphernalia--making it one of the largest bicycle retailers in the United States.

Twelve years ago, president and owner Paul C. Moore was a mechanic in a 300-square-foot Costa Mesa bike store. “On a big day, we’d sell 10 (tire) tubes,” he said.

But Moore bought the tiny repair shop in 1975, and within seven years--thanks to his penchant for the unusual and hard-to-find--business was rolling: Annual sales had soared to $1 million as Moore added bicycles--plus parts, tools and racks of skintight Lyra shorts and shirts.

Today, Two Wheel has 65 employees and three outlets--the second, in El Toro, was added last fall.

The two-story Fountain Valley store, which officially opens today, is heaven for the serious bicyclist, with 15,000 square feet of high-tech stock in high-tech displays. Moore expects 1987 sales to top $6 million, bringing a net profit of about 8%.

Some of that growth comes from a growing army of exercise enthusiasts in pursuit of cardiovascular karma, for whom bicycling is the aerobic ultimate.

Nationally, that growing army translated into the sale of more than 12.3 million bikes last year, compared to 8.9 million five years ago, according to the Bicycle Manufacturers Assn. of America. This year, sales should reach 12.5 million bikes, the association predicts.

New products also have increased the number of cyclists, particularly after the introduction five years ago of all-terrain, or mountain, bikes, which accounted for about 40% of Two Wheel’s bicycle sales last year--up from only about 10% a few years ago, Moore said.

Clothing, brought in just six years ago, now makes up about 25% of the business.

The Fountain Valley store carries 15 styles of bicycling shoes, 16 choices of locks, plus racks of padded gloves, goggles and helmets and special equipment such as handlebar-mounted computers that measure speed, distance and even the rider’s pulse. And, of course, French bottom brackets--specially threaded parts of a bike’s pedal assembly.

The second floor has bikes, bikes and more bikes--exercise cycles, cruising bikes, racing bikes--including the Alex Moulton-designed “fastest bike in the world” and bicycles built for two or even three. For larger families, there are even trailers for the tykes.

The merchandise isn’t cheap: most of the bikes sell for $400 or more, with some deluxe models (like the Moulton) going for up to $3,000.

Of course, part of the business also is telling customers about that huge inventory. Two Wheel’s yearly advertising budget tops $100,000 and includes seminars by racing stars like Greg LeMond--the first American to win the Tour de France.

Of course, no store can stock everything, and sometimes even Two Wheels has letdowns.

Jim Degner, for instance, didn’t find the racing eyepieces he and his triathlon-racer son, Eric, trekked in from Upland last week to find. “But if they don’t have ‘em, at least you know nobody else does, either,” he said with a shrug. “We’ll be back.”