The Radavist

The door is freshly painted on the corner of Downing Street and 30th in the northeast Denver, Colorado neighborhood of Five Points. Behind the new blue facade, light washes in to reveal high ceilings and smooth wooden floors—heavily polished over time by both varnish and foot traffic. The rest of the space has that just-righted tidiness of a host’s house before a dinner party: intentional, inviting and immaculate. It’s an old building with a new idea, but Treehouse Cyclery isn’t its first bike shop.

Read on for Hailey Moore‘s shop visit to Denver’s newest, community-focused, bike shop: Treehouse Cyclery.

Inspired by the Audi Group B rally machines from the 80’s, this Avery County Cycles Cross bike is for Eli Cox, owner of Berkeley Supply in Denver. Josh from Avery, Eli from Berkeley Supply and Tyler from Pearl Velo make up the Tennyson Collective. They’re all good friends who have found Denver as their home.

Eli is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but that doesn’t mean he’s with the occasional heckling from Josh and Tyler. When he got serious about his health and wanting to ride a bike, he told Josh he wanted a cross bike with a wider gear range, that would be inspired by an Audi Rally car from the 80’s.

Josh usually does powder in-house, so for this one, he sent it off to Jordan Low, who in my opinion is killing it right now!

I feel like this goes without saying but Pearl Velo, Berkeley Supply Co and Avery County Cycles really left a great impression on me and just about everyone else who was visiting for this year’s NAHBS. These three shops have created a really admirable energy through their spaces and the shop owner’s faces.

Pearl Velo would fall into what I’d like to call a neo bike shop. While it is full-service, Tyler won’t hesitate to send work down the street to the larger shop. You walk in the doors and everything is merchandised with thought. Its surfaces are clean and orderly, so much so that you almost don’t want to touch anything, but you do anyway. Tyler sells everyday accessories from brands you trust, he carries complete bikes and frames from the manufacturers you probably ride and as previously stated, his own branded products are worthy souvenirs.

To top it off, Tyler’s father hand-painted each of the wooden signs outside the shop. They’re so beautiful that I had to shoot the first couple of photos in the Gallery with my Mamiya 7ii to capture the color and light just right. Check out more photos in the Gallery and shop info below!

Nestled in between Pearl Velo and Avery County Cycles is Berkeley Supply Co. Having opened last December, Eli has focused entirely on made in the USA clothing and accessories. For someone like me, who usually buys clothing when I travel (not a whole lot of options in Austin believe it or not), I was very impressed with the shop and environment Eli has created. Many of the brands he carries I’ve been wearing for the past few years and have had the best of luck with them. A lot of these clothes are what I would consider an investment, as Berkeley Supply Co’s slogan states “outfitter of things that last”.

Check out some photos in the Gallery. Find shop hours and info below.

When Josh from Avery County Cycles won the rookie of the year award at this year’s NAHBS, I don’t think anyone was surprised. I for one, was not in the least bit. His self-described Colorado front-range commuter is a mixture of things. Part cross bike, part light-tourer / commuter, with a trail suitable for off-roading. He kept the rear end tight, at 405mm and a nice, even bb drop of 65mm. While there are rack provisions on the rear, Josh prefers a bit of backpack camping.

Enough about the use and geometry, this is a show bike with all the suiting accoutrement. The hardware is copper-plated, there’s a machined lamp tab on the non-drive fork, Avery “A” fork crown inlay and a ‘perty blue matte coat of paint. The color really looks great in person. In fact, this whole bike looks great in person and in photos. See for yourself in the Gallery!

Every time I travel, I always end up with scrap photos. Maybe they fit into an article, maybe they don’t. Usually they’re airport shots, which I like because it shows the weather of the departing and arrival city, or maybe they’re random portraits. Just hanging around a shop for a week often brings about unique moments. This batch from NAHBS is a little bit of all that.

I’ll narrate these as well, because the people in Denver are RAD!

Mamiya 7ii
80mm
Portra 400 / Velvia 100