March 21, 2012 (Oakville, ON) – Gears is growing again, adding a new location in Oakville to compliment Gears Mississauga and Gears Toronto. Gears Oakville occupies more than 20,000 square feet of space at 547 Trafalgar Road, and if that sounds big, it should – the facility previously housed Oakville Chevrolet.

The showroom is 6,500 square feet, yet Gears Oakville designers have skillfully accented a neutral blend of grays and whites with the natural texture of wooden bicycle stands and  merchandise displays to offer a warm and welcoming environment. The high ceilings and enormous  glass windows of the original car dealership have been retained, creating an atmosphere akin to  shopping outdoors.

“Cannondale will be the number one brand,” says one of the owners, Mario Kovacevic. “Cannondale has a  tremendous depth of product, every rider profile is covered.  Recreation, urban, mountain, right up to the Supersix Evo Ultimate, voted ‘Best bike of the world’ by Tour Magazine in March 2012.”

Fondriest, Storck, and Museeuw, proven premium brands successfully introduced in Gears Toronto last year, plus Guru and GT will share the showroom floor, along with Felt.

Kovacevic smiles adding, “Felt is the brand we continue to love, and love more,” referencing  Felt’s strong track bike line of five models, from the retro-stylish TK4130 to the UHC Advanced Aero Modular carbon fibre frameset used by world champions.

With the added exposure to track racing generated by the London 2012 Olympics, and the recent decision to build the 2015 Pan American Games velodrome in Milton, at the northern edge of Gears Oakville’s Halton trading area, Felt will be a strategic brand.

Service delivery is an integral part of Gears philosophy, and the new Oakville location raises this bar for Gears’ customers as well.  Eighteen hundred square feet is dedicated to a Power Based Training Centre, where clients can choose from instructor-led group sessions normalized to their specific fitness profile, or bring in their own bikes and utilize Gears’ Tacx Virtual Reality trainers on their own.

Unique to Gears, Dr. Greg Gannon, a highly respected national expert in the field of exercise and sport performance, is personally available to clients for Enhanced Physiological Assessment, including lactate testing and oxygen and respiratory analysis in a private one-on-one coaching facility within the  store.

Guru’s Dynamic Fit Unit is a computerized, robotic assisted bicycle fitting system that allows real- time customer fitting while riding.  Data can then be submitted to Guru electronically generating custom builds for clients.

Another innovative concept is that each service coordinator that greets a Gears Oakville customer needing a bike repair has a work stand and toolbox available for immediate “triage.” Customer and service coordinator go over the bike together to ensure problem diagnosis is accurate and complete before the bike goes to a technician – this idea is a tested automotive dealership procedure designed to minimize customer comebacks.

The Trafalgar Road location between the QEW and GO Station offers easy access by car, transit or bike, and there will be store rides every week for road and mountain bikers, providing a great opportunity for staff and customers to interact.

Gears Oakville is now open for business, with the Grand Opening targeted for early April, 2012. Celebrity guests and special deals will be announced here soon.

For more on Gears pls visit www.gearsbikeshop.com