The Wheels Keep On Turning

to the average observer, is nothing fancy. Just a shop with bikes lined up on racks, shelving with various gloves, helmets and other accessories.

But inside you'll also find a man with two blatantly obvious passions -- his business and cycling.

"I come from a family of entrepreneurs, self-employed people, and I kind of knew that was what I wanted to do," said owner Drew Guldalian, who had a brief career in culinary arts. "It’s kind of in the blood I guess."

Guldalian's mother owns a boutique and his dad is in the medical field, but is self-employed.

He's owned and worked at his 7837 Germantown Avenue shop for the past 17 years, but his history with the building goes back much further.

"My grandfather actually built this building," he said. "He had a rug store here back in the 40s and 50s."

A man and his bike

Guldalian also has a long-running history with cycling.

"I started when I was a kid and always rode a bike," he said.

Guldalian said dropping his son off in the mornings and working six days a week prevent him from riding as much as he wishes, but he still has passion for the sport. He describes himself more as a one-day cyclist -- leaving for rides as early as 7 a.m. and returning at 4 p.m. -- or someone who uses it to commute. But to him, there's nothing more refreshing than a bike ride.

"Any day that I get to ride my bike is a good story, as far as I’m concerned," he said. "Even if you just commute...it makes your day much more refreshing to start out on a bike ride and then finish it out on a bike ride."

His customers

Commuting on bike is a trend Guldalian said he's seen grow amongst customers.

"You have people that would drive to work, get frustrated with the cost of parking and the cost of gasoline and they start taking the train," he said. "And then you have the hardcore train commuters get frustrated with the fact that the train is oversaturated. sSo they move to the next thing, which is going to be biking."

Guldalian said he thinks the commute via bike from Chestnut Hill to places like Center City and West Philadelphia is popular because the route -- which would likely be from Forbidden Drive to Kelley Drive -- is bike friendly and only about eight miles.

But on an every day basis, Guldalian said he sees every cyclist from what he calls the weekend warrior -- a hardcore bike rider on the weekends as a hobby -- to the commuter to the serious competitive cyclist.

And on occassion he also gets the bicycle novice, who he and his staff -- who he says he hires based on knowledge of bikes -- gladly educates.

So what's the best bike for Chestnut Hill?

Guldalian: "anything with gears because of all the hills."