Tahoe bicycle shop aims high

Sam and Brie Hyslop saw potential in South Lake Tahoe for an over-the-edge mountain biking experience when they set up shop on Tamarack Avenue and Ski Run Boulevard.

Their shop, Tahoe Over the Edge Sports, marks the fifth store to open. The other four are in Fruita, Col., Sedona, Ariz., Hurricane, Utah, and Melrose, South Australia.

Sam Hyslop said Over the Edge is a group of shops that offers high-quality products in mountain bicycle destinations.

“We saw that in South Lake Tahoe,” Hyslop said. “Our out-of-town visitors come to Tahoe specifically because it’s a world-class trail area.”

Tahoe Over the Edge opened May 22, drawing in visitors from as far as Oregon, Hyslop said.

Hyslop said Tahoe Over the Edge provides tune-ups and suspension services, sells trail maps and necessary accessories.

Over the Edge also offers a shuttle service for bicyclists to various points along the Tahoe Rim bicycle trails.

“We’re kind of like a concierge service — more than just a bike shop,” Hyslop said. “Our business model is simply to be awesome to everyone who enters the door.”

Hyslop said he had worked in the Over the Edge shop in Fruita six years ago. He said like most mountain bicyclists, he and his wife were nomads, with Sam working in bicycle shops.

“We’ve just been moving around and trying to find a place do our version of this shop,” Hyslop said. “South Lake Tahoe, the community and the trail system fit that business model.”

The community has been receptive and open, and the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) has helped.

“We saw that type of reception coming here,” Hyslop said.

The South Shore’s attempt to enhance its bicycling focus and year-round recreation systems also appealed to them.

“We saw the Forest Service and TAMBA making the area more accessible to people,” Hyslop said. “We see that South Lake Tahoe is becoming this biking destination.”

Over the Edge will “help push that growth,” he added.

“It increases the quality of life here for everyone,” Hyslop said. “People have better access to the outdoors here and it’s a pretty amazing place.”