DENVER — Alan Fine opened his bike shop time for the 1970s bicycle boom, when 10-speeds were the hot commodity.
He served customers during the ’80s, when mountain bikes became a thing. He sold road bikes in the early 2000s, when everyone wanted to be Lance Armstrong. He made it through the recession, only to find himself facing the rise of e-commerce.
Now, the 71-year-old owner of Turin Bicycles — founded in 1971, and at its current location since 1991 — is “ready to retire.” On Tuesday, he carried out the first of two steps to make that happen.
“I was anxious to preserve the legacy of the store,” Fine told a reporter Tuesday afternoon. “It’s the oldest bike shop in Denver, and I take some pride in that.”
On Tuesday, Fine sold the building the store occupies at 700 Lincoln St. for $2.6 million to Denver-based St. Charles Town Co. He expects to sell the business itself to two longtime managers, Mike Stejskal and Dave Wileden, this spring.