Bikeseller.com *

Craig Zediker and Brendan Quirk put together the components of a Chainwheel bicycle shop and acquired the assets of a bankrupt triathlon shop to form a successful retail bike operation.

They launched Bikeseller.com in early 2000 and sister company, Competitivecyclist.com in late 2000.

Zediker, 36, became a partner in a second Chainwheel in 1997 and was later joined by friend and business partner Quirk, 33, in 1998.

“It started off as a good opportunity,” Quirk said. “It’s one of those things, banks are not in the bike business. So we got into it for a minimum startup cost. Usually to start up a business, you go into debt. We did it for pennies on the dollar.”

They launched Competitivecyclist.com after acquiring a Dallas mail-order business that did a sizable business on high-end Italian road bikes that can cost as much as $4,000. Bikes can be ordered online.

The site also features calculators for picking the right size bike, components and training tools.

The Bikeseller.com Web site encourages bike shoppers to come to their shop at 2222 Cantrell Road at Little Rock, which features several top bicycle brands and bike types including mountain, road, triathlon, hybrid, freestyle, kids’ and BMX bikes.

“We’re like a Ferrari dealership,” Quirk said.

Quirk, a graduate of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa., and Zediker, a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, first met at a bike shop where Zediker worked and developed a friendship via cycling. Zediker eventually brought him into the business.

The companies have grown to five full-time and two part-time employees, and have become top U.S. suppliers of Italian bikes with buyers from major metropolitan areas.

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