A Week away from the shop made us better…heres how
The first week of February, we shut the doors for a few days of professional development — and what a whirlwind it was. Getting out of the shop to connect with peers, industry partners, and people who genuinely want to see local bike shops thrive is one of the best things we can do for our community here in Tinley Park. Here's how the week unfolded.
Day 1 — SRAM HQ & the NBDA P2 Summit (Chicago)
Monday kicked things off at SRAM's corporate headquarters in Chicago for Day 1 of the NBDA P2 Summit. We got a tour of their offices and spent the day deep in conversation about service departments. We're really proud of what we've built here at Still Ride — but sitting down with other retailers is a great reminder that there's always room to grow.
Day 2 — Marketing & the customer experience (Schaumburg)
Tuesday took us to the Schaumburg Convention Center for Day 2 of the summit, with a focus on the front-of-house side of running a shop — marketing, customer experience, and making every visit better than the last. Always a work in progress, and we left with plenty of ideas.
Day 3 — CABDA Midwest Dealer Show (Schaumburg)
Wednesday we stayed in Schaumburg for the CABDA Midwest dealer show. It was a great chance to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones across the industry — and the energy around 2026 was infectious. Lots of exciting new products. Lots of stickers.
That evening we made the drive up to Madison, Wisconsin, where our friends at Trek put us up at the Mansion Hill Inn. Staying there felt like stepping back in time — we just love Madison.
Day 4 — Trek Headquarters (Waterloo, WI)
Thursday morning we headed to Trek's corporate headquarters in Waterloo. The campus is full of incredible bikes at every turn and has a genuinely cool vibe. We got to sit down with the team to go over plans for the season — and yes, we saw some things we're not allowed to talk about yet. Stay tuned.
Day 5 — Dad Duty at the Shedd Aquarium
Friday, Josh traded the boardroom for a field trip chaperone badge at the Shedd Aquarium. Priorities.
Meanwhile, back at the shop — our first maintenance classes of 2026
While all of this was happening, we also hosted our first two basic maintenance classes of the year. We walked attendees through the ABC Quick Check — a simple pre-ride routine that can prevent mechanical issues before they happen out on the trail or road.
The response was amazing. We're reviewing our notes and will be scheduling more classes very soon. If there's something specific you'd like to learn, let us know — we'd love to build future classes around what our community actually wants.
Why it all matters
So why do we do all of this? Because being the best bike shop for our community means never getting complacent. Every conversation we had last week — whether it was with other retailers at the summit, the team at Trek, or our neighbors in a maintenance class — pushed us to think harder about how we can serve you better. Better service. Better knowledge. Better experience every time you walk through our door. That's what Still Ride is about, and we're fired up heading into 2026.
Stay tuned. We have a lot planned this year — and we can't wait to share it with you.
