Waiting to pick up your bike from your local shop after a tune-up? Did your brand new, direct order bike just arrive unassembled? Velofix thinks it's the answer to this niche market by providing mobile bike servicing.

Slowtwitch first noticed Velofix at the Sea Otter Classic in 2015 and they have since grown from a start-up on the Dragon's Den (Canada's version of Shark Tank) to the largest mobile bike shop in North America and recently celebrated its 50th franchise.

For readers not familiar with Velofix, they provide the “red carpet treatment” in bike servicing and repair to individuals, events, and corporate clients. Clients book an appointment, either online or via telephone using their zip codes, and after the appointment is confirmed a Velofix van comes to you providing a fully operational bike shop.

The labor fee is standard across all Velofix franchises at $69/hr with the cost of a major tune-up at $89 and a full overhaul $189. Lacking the overhead costs of a typical bike shop allows Velofix, it says, to offer personal service at the same cost, or less, than most bike shops. One of their recent service additions has been the Velofix Direct Delivery program, which leverages the increase in direct sales by bike manufactures. Currently, Velofix provides the delivery and assembly for 25 bike brands. Along with the initial delivery and build, Velofix also provides an initial bike fitting and a service follow-up after 30 days. (Each franchisee's lead mechanic must be Barnett [bike repair service] certified, but we're aware of no required fit training.)

Along with servicing and repairs, Velofix also sells brand name items such as pedals, power meters, bike computers, wheel sets, nutrition products, and other products found at a traditional bike shop.

Velofix has ties to the triathlon community as well with Olympic gold medalist Simon Whitfield being an advisor and franchisee with the company. Velofix says it provides support to hundreds of triathlon races each year, and is an official sponsor of the MultiSport Canada series. It now has a franchise in Kona.