Nathan Pilling, Kitsap Sun Published 8:18 a.m. PT March 15, 2020
POULSBO — Dustin Thomas and Bryan Wells met, appropriately enough, on a mountain bike ride. A little over a year later, they’re co-owners of Infinity Cyclery, one of the few bike shops in Kitsap and the lone shop in Poulsbo.
They were on a trail near Port Gamble: “I ended up getting behind him, and we perfectly matched speed down this technical trail,” Thomas said. “He rode very similar to me as far as hopping off this rock and root and how he takes different lines down. We got to the bottom and just started talking about the similar riding style and how we like to set up our bikes.”
The two, picky about their setups, connected as suspension nerds, Thomas said.
“It just took off from there,” he said.
Eventually they learned they were competitors, as both ran small IT businesses. Both realized they had a diminishing passion for that work and got to thinking about leaning into their passions for cycling, they said. With a little work, they launched their business in a garage in Scandia a few months back and in February moved to a small retail location at the Bond Road-Lindvig Way intersection, near Poulsbo’s Fish Park.
Along with renting out bikes and leading local trail rides, Thomas and Wells sell Ibis, Transition, Yeti and Specialized bike brands, along with parts and components. They’ll handle repairs and tune-ups in-house, like suspension rebuilds on mountain bikes and repairs and assemblies on electric bikes.
All in all, “just making sure that such an expensive investment will stay out there for a long time,” Wells said. “We don’t want these things falling apart because of one neglected area.”
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Their opening comes at a good time for local cyclists, as Silverdale Cyclery, long a staple of the biking community in Kitsap, will close its doors for good on March 19. Thomas said their business has already seen an influx of customers as the Central Kitsap shop winds down. It’s also poised to serve as a hub for North Kitsap cycling, as plans for a mountain bike ride park in Port Gamble advance.
The two worked in IT but both have plenty of experience around bikes. Both love to ride mountain bikes, and Wells worked previously as a mechanic at Kitsap Sports. Thomas did IT work for Silverdale Cyclery and helped out at the shop during busy periods. He’s also a coach for the North Kitsap Mountain Vikes group, a coed mountain bike club for youth.
The two men both forged connections with cycling as adults as they were going through rough patches in their lives. For Thomas, it was after his father died in 2010. It became an outlet for him to get exercise and release.
“Then it turned into a love,” he said. “Every time I go mountain biking I think about my dad now.”
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For Wells, most recently cycling helped him to get through a divorce.
“It just made everything better,” he said. “It was a really good way to distract myself and get myself on a better path. After that and meeting all the riders I currently know now, it was a really good way to just change my life around. Next thing you know we’re starting this shop. I couldn’t be happier with it.”
For more information about the shop, visit infinitycyclery.com.
Nathan Pilling is a reporter covering Bainbridge Island, North Kitsap and Washington State Ferries for the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-5242, nathan.pilling@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at @KSNatePilling.
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