Community Wheels: How Link Cycling Transforms Biking Culture

What happens when a devastating brain injury and a failed business become the foundation for something extraordinary? Melissa Ross and her husband Aaron transformed personal setbacks into Link Cycling, a revolutionary bike shop in Laramie, Wyoming that's redefining what the cycling experience should feel like.

The journey began during COVID when Aaron, a respected bike fitter, pivoted to virtual consultations for clients nationwide. From this necessity-driven innovation, Link Cycling emerged as a welcoming haven that actively counters the intimidating atmosphere many associate with traditional bike shops. "Sometimes they have a vibe of they ignore you or they expect you to know everything about bikes," Melissa explains, describing the industry problem they're solving. Their approach? Creating a judgment-free zone where cyclists of all experience levels feel understood.

Behind the business philosophy lies Melissa's personal resilience story. A mountain biking accident left her with a traumatic brain injury that took over four years to recover from. She experienced everything from dizziness and memory loss to double vision and emotional regulation challenges. This profound journey, which she documented in her podcast "Get Your Head Back in the Game," infuses her approach to customer service with extraordinary empathy. The shop doesn't just sell bikes—they build relationships, offer skills coaching, and help customers experience the childlike joy that comes from cycling. As Melissa beautifully puts it, "When you get on a bike, you have this 'oh wow, I feel like myself as a kid again.'"

Whether you're an experienced cyclist or just beginning your journey, Link Cycling demonstrates how a specialty retail experience can feel supportive rather than intimidating. Visit their website at thelinkinnovations.com or stop by their shop at 263 North 3rd Street in Laramie to experience their unique approach firsthand, or call Link Cycling at 307-761-9260. Share your own cycling journey with us and let us know how inclusive spaces have changed your relationship with sports or hobbies!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
podcast.
The place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, nick George.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor podcast.
Are you in need of some veryserious cycling innovations?
One company might be closerthan you think.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing your good
neighbor, Melissa Ross, who is aformer cycling professional and
a current cycling coach, butalso has her own store, which is
almost a laboratory, on top ofthe store.

(00:30):
Melissa, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Good, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
We're excited to learn all about you and your
business.
Tell us about your company.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Well Link Cycling.
We're located in Laramie,wyoming, and the business is
owned by myself and my husband,aaron.
We started about three yearsago at our location, which is
right off of Third Street, andstarted small.
It was mostly with bike fittingservices and then doing some

(01:02):
repairs bike fitting servicesand then doing some repairs and
then we started to build on topof that with providing many
different cycling brands forbikes and providing all the
types of parts and tools youmight need when you walk into a
bike shop.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
How did you get into the business in the first place?

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, our business is actually kind of a comeback
story from a previous businessthat didn't work out and we lost
a lot from that.
So it came out of COVID.
During COVID there was a lot ofpeople who needed bike fits

(01:45):
virtually, and my husband,aaron's a really well-known bike
fitter and he had people allover the country who he'd worked
with previously that needed hishelp, and so he's figured out
how to do it virtually and so wejust started getting our own

(02:07):
thing going again.
And once he got the bike fitsgoing, people who had a bike fit
needed a new bike.
And he goes Melissa, we needbikes.
And it was after COVID when thesupply chain was kind of messed
up so there weren't any brandstaking on new vendors, so we had

(02:27):
a hard time actually getting abike brand and getting things
going.
But once we did, it juststarted to like, started to work
, work out, and now here we are.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Nice, what are some myths or misconceptions in your
industry?

Speaker 3 (02:48):
we are Nice.
What are some myths ormisconceptions in your industry?
Well, I think a big one thatwe're trying to really get over
is when you walk into a bikeshop, you know, sometimes they
have a vibe of they ignore youor they expect you to know
everything about bikes.
And there's a lot of people whoare getting into cycling.
So we try really hard to, youknow, be welcoming and

(03:09):
nonjudgmental so that, no matterwho you are or what stage you
are in cycling, you feelunderstood and um, and welcomed.
And then the other myth I thinkum people have is, um, they.
They sometimes think it's veryexpensive, which it can be, but

(03:29):
there's a lot of differentlevels of how you can get into
the sport.
And so you know, we try reallyhard to you know, work through
what that person's budget mightbe and help them get started
where they're at who are yourtarget customers, speaking of
budget, and how are youattracting them now?

(03:51):
Well, we have a lot of differentavenues.
We have word of mouth, which islocally and also through bike
fitting.
We still do a lot of virtualbike fits for people in Alaska
and all over the country, but wealso get people who come up
from like Fort Collins and outof town where they can't find a

(04:16):
bike shop.
That provides them with a lotof one-on-one time and service,
so they'll make the drive hereand come see us.
We also, locally, we supportour local like trail builders.
We support the local middleschool high school team.
We have our own program in thesummer for little kids to teach

(04:41):
them how to get on bikes.
So we're constantly trying tobe involved in the community in
terms of the cycling aspect andgetting people you know excited
about it, cause once you getthat excitement, that's when you
know you want to come to thebike shop too.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
I haven't been more excited than I was when I saw
your website with BMX bikes withrear suspension.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
Oh, yeah, oh yeah, those are fun.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
It made me want to run right down there, honestly.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, yeah.
And being on a bike I mean,like I think for a lot of people
, and including adults, nomatter your age, it takes you
back to being a kid again.
So, um, so, once that persongets on a bike, they have this
like oh wow, I feel like I feellike my myself as a kid again,

(05:31):
and then they want more of that.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast?

Speaker 3 (05:37):
Well, I actually have a podcast, but I haven't
updated it in a while.
It's called Get your Head Backin the Game, and that podcast I
started after I suffered atraumatic brain injury, and so
the podcast covers my story ofrecovery through my traumatic
brain injury and interviewsdifferent types of people, my

(05:57):
traumatic brain injury andinterviews different types of
people.
Um, I'm 100% recovered now, um,partially from the podcast and
meeting certain people whohelped me along the way.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
But uh, yeah, it was.
It was from a mountain bikingaccident, so is it on your?
I'm looking right now.
Is it under videos?

Speaker 3 (06:19):
and articles on your website?
Um no, I think it's in my bioactually I have a link to it,
but I can see it later.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Tell us about that story.
I mean, I typically don't askpeople for their master, master
chef hardship story, but um,yeah, um, and that was partially
the same timing of like, whenwe were before we started
getting the this bike shop going.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
Um, you know, during COVID I had a mountain biking
accident where I knocked myselfout and I was unconscious for a
while and woke up and didn'tknow where I was or how I got
there and, um, and I had had ayou know, concussions before.
But um, at the time you, youknow, when you go to the ER,

(07:04):
they would just say, well,here's some, here's some
ibuprofen and it's going to takea while, good luck.
There wasn't much supportmedical facility.
They often have a lot ofscreening that helps identify

(07:26):
many different symptoms ofconcussions and brain injury.
And, and I had, I you know, Ihad things from dizziness to
memory loss, to double visionand, you know, not being able to
control my emotions.
So there was this layer uponlayer of issues that I had to

(07:48):
kind of, piece by piece, unraveland work my way through it.
But it took over four years torecover.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
It's impressive what you've done, seriously.
So, melissa, please tell ourlisteners one thing that they
should absolutely remember whatthe big takeaway from this, this
interview with you about linkcycling.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, I think the big takeaway is that, you know, we,
we want people to come in andfeel like, you know, it's not
about us and our shop, it'sabout them and where they're at
in their journey.
And we, we don't want people tofeel pressured that they have
to go buy a fancy bike to comeinto our store.

(08:31):
It's it's more about buildingrelationships, getting to know
people and helping them with,rather, you know, a small fix on
their bike to.
You know, maybe they make a bigjump and purchase something
that you know is a big deal tothem.
And we like to take the time tohelp people.

(08:54):
You know, if they're gettinginto something new, learn how to
do it Like we'll go out and doskills coaching or, you know,
help help people feelcomfortable on their new bike,
um, comfortable on their bike,fit.
And we want the wholeexperience to be more than just
you get the bike and see youlater.
It's, you know it's.
It's a new, I guess, upgrade toyour lifestyle when you get on

(09:17):
a bike and you really enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
True.
How can our listeners learnmore about Link Cycling?
Melissa?

Speaker 3 (09:25):
They can visit our website it's
thelinkinnovationscom, or theycan just come see us.
We're at 263 North 3rd Streetin Laramie.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
Well, Melissa, I really appreciate you being on
our show and we wish you andLink Cycling the very best
moving forward.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Thank you have a good one you too, Thank you for
listening to the Good NeighborPodcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go toGNPFortCollinscom.
That's GNPFortCollinscom, orcall 970-438-0825.