indyfabz

Read about it here and check out the sales:

https://thetouringstore.com/thetouri...osing-details/

Wayne provided great customer service before and after the sale. Wish him well in whatever he does down the road.

travelinhobo

Never heard of this site - what a shame. Lone Peak panniers are the best!

fietsbob

I suppose he has had business taken away from him, by Bezos..

alan s 

spinnaker

I bought my panniers and handlebar bag from him. He was so patient with a wet behind the ears bike tourer.

It is going to be extremely difficult to replacate his service. Doubtful is it is possible.

indyfabz

Read the explanation. He's 63 and has been running the place for 15 years. Time for something else, like touring, which he told me he actually does instead of talking about what he did way back when, like you do. Sounds like he's made enough to now take more time off. Good for him.

alan s 

spinnaker

His business was different. The value of the company was Wayne. Everyone in the touring community knows that. Now Wayne is retiring. The only thing left is the domain name and a few left over odds and ends.

spinnaker

He probably should have brought on a younger partner 4-5 years ago and groomed them then the store would have had lasting value. Maybe some named Garth.

But I still say "Party on Wayne"!

veganbikes

Wayne was a really good dude, I talked with him for a long long time about my rando bag set up and just general odds and ends and he was really knowledgeable and a great guy to talk with. I hope it wasn't Bezos and co. doing him in and I hope he gets to enjoy many tours (or one big one) in his time off and enjoys the heck out of life.

Jadesfire 

I haven't done a lot of shopping at thetouringstore, but the few interactions I've had with Wayne have been great. Sorry to see him close up shop (before I am able to gear up for a big tour that I'd like to do some day), but I did my best -it wasn't much, but the bag's been on my wish list for a while- to contribute to his retirement this evening. All the best to him.

DropBarFan

TheTouringStore is one of the very places that still sells the discontinued Tubus Logo Titan(ium) rear rack plus it's on sale for $255. Logo Titan is reasonably strong w/66 lb capacity but is almost a half-pound lighter than the steel version & is also more than a pound lighter than some other makers' racks.

Good luck to Wayne. Would be interesting to see what he tours with since he has knowledge of & access to top-quality stuff.

MAK

This is very sad news. I purchased a few items from Wayne and he was always easy to talk with and gave great and accurate advice. I never felt that he rushed the conversation and he often kept it going by showing an interest in me and my riding. I wish I had met him and hope to meet him on the road. He will be missed.

When I last spoke with him I joked that I have no idea how he stays in business. Everything he sells is top quality and likely will never need replacement and even if something finally wore out, it would be many many years before a replacement was necessary. Repeat business every 5-10 years is not an ideal business model.

I wish him the best and hope he finds happiness as he moves on.

Bassmanbob

I purchased a front rack, a set of four panniers, handlebar bag and three saddle bags. Wayne was really great. I looked forward to talking to him as well as purchasing from him. I hope he's happy with whatever he does.

indyfabz

At one point he had an assistant with an unusual name. IIRC, it was something "Carmack" (sp?) of "Cormick."

Doug64

Sadly, I agree.

My experience with Wayne had been exceptional. I wish him well in his new venture.

fietsbob

63 , a youngster,

OK, maybe it's time for him to go on some bike tours, some where...

robow

He always did well by me. It was so nice to be able to speak with someone who had an intimate knowledge of the products he sold and how they could be adapted to my specific needs. Best wishes in retirement.

skookum

I'm just going to join the chorus, Wayne ran an awesome operation and I hope he enjoys his retirement.
Thanks for all the great service, Wayne.

jefnvk

Maybe it is time to kick him some business and pick up some matching front Ortliebs before orange becomes impossible to find! His store always intrigued me, even if I generally opted for the convenience of a shopping cart.

Tandem Tom

Four summers ago my wife and I started our cross country tour. My wife found she really needed to have front panniers and a rack. A call to Wayne and he sent thmt to a bike shop on our route with extra bits of hardware.
I work in a bike shop pt and when people are getting into touring I had sent them to Wayne as we never carried enough product.

redbagsrambler

I have complete sets of Lone Peak bags in different colors I bought from Wayne. Bits and pieces from the Touring Store have been with me on every tour I've taken. Wayne and his exceptional products and customer service will be sorely missed. I also enjoyed our telephone chats whenever I called to order something. This is like losing a part of bicycle touring legend.
I wish him the very best and thank him for a job well done.

LeeG

BigAura

Wayne has been a wonderful asset to the touring community.

Happy trails to Wayne

Andrew R Stewart 

When looking to invest in a business the new potential owner has to look at what is the "branding" of the business. Is it a commodity like one where the product is a low cost or a relationship one where the value added by the personality is the real product. I never did business with Wayne (being in the LBS industry I have little need for the usual on line store) but know friends who have and they all mentioned Wayne's manor and efforts to best insure that the customer was going to have the best touring experience that Wayne could help with. It's been my pleasure to work for (and manage employees of when I was the shop owner) shops that knew the staff's experience and effort was the product.

We have a LBS here in Rochester that has been on the market for a couple of years. (And I worked there for a year over 30 years ago) with no real takers. He is the shop. It isn't the bike or bag brands he sells that's why people have supported his shop for so long. I fully suspect that the potential business buyers know this. So much of what a new owner counts on is the shop's "good will". When that is no longer there (and not saying that a new owner will have "bad will", just that the "main man" will be missing) the value of the shop drops.

Do we really know if Wayne offered his shop to the marketplace? This isn't something usually openly talked about till long after the deal is done, or the shop closed down. I did much of the same with my shop. Looked for a buyer, entertained a couple of not real offers and sold off 90% of the inventory, got my security deposit back (after 15 years of renting), and walked away owing no one any money. I felt that controlling my "good will" that I had developed within my area was more important than a few thousand dollars was. But we all make big decisions with different motives.

Wayne- I wish you well and hope to see you down the road someday. Andy