Bike Works Kona

Grant Miller Co-owner of Bike Works, Grant has developed the business from a bike rental kiosk into its current two-level triathlon shop that sells bikes for every level of rider interested in road biking, commuting, mountain biking or triathlon.

Grant is the first to point out that his shop wouldn't have grown the way it has without the support of the community, and so he gives back throughout the year by organizing bike and triathlon education programs, leading group fun rides, volunteering hours for trail-building, and supporting area races.

Grant, an Ironman World Championship finisher, has also raced in the Swiss Alps Bike Masters, the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, and the Sea to Stars bike race from Hilo to Mauna Kea. If he's not in the shop, look for Grant doing hills up Hina Lani or riding the trails in Kaloko.

Follow along with his mountain bike adventures on the island and elsewhere. Click here for his island adventures and here for his European adventures!

Janet Higa-Miller
Co-owner of Bike Works, Janet is an avid cyclist and a true island girl, as she was born on the Big Island and grew up here. While much of Janet's work for the shop is of the behind-the-scenes variety, you'll still catch her in the store several days a week. You'll also see Janet at our local Peaman races and either volunteering for or racing in our community's full schedule of fun runs, bike races and swims.

Janet even caught the Ironman bug and completed the Kona race 3 times between 1994 and 2003, following up each year's Ironman performance with the XTERRA World Championship in Maui as a cool down.

Janet likes to travel and race and has taken part in biking and triathlon events on Oahu, the mainland and throughout the world. When not training, racing or working, Janet likes to welcome newcomers to the sport of triathlon and encourage us all to appreciate the overwhelming beauty and accessibility of the Big Island.

Click here to see Janets adventures in Vietnam!

John Hill
John has been a fixture at Bike Works for many years. Besides a first class sense of humor, John brings a great love for cycling with him to work each day. Most shops have an employee who tends to prefer the technology of the past. This is true for John.... steel is real!

Keith Mowinski
Keith grew up racing BMX bikes and hasn't figured out how to step away from the sport since. Keith has lived in Kona since 1997, when he visited the Big Island on a mountain biking trip and decided to stick around. He's worked at Bike Works for over three years. He has also worked in bike shops on Maui and in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Keith took up mountain biking and road biking in the 1980s, and he continues to ride recreationally several times a week. Keith enjoys talking story about bike rides and races with local customers and visitors from around the world. Keith works in sales, bike rentals and bike repairs.

Nick Nelson
Nick has been a part of the Bike Works crew since 2006, when he moved here from Wisconsin. Nick attended Barnett Bicycle Institute and became a mechanic in 1997, when he decided he didn't want to continue to pay other people to work on his bike. He's worked in bike shops since then, in Colorado and Wisconsin. Nick says he hasn't worked in 11 years; he just gets paid to do what he enjoys.

Nick knows a thing or two about endurance riding. In Wisconsin, he took part in 24-hour mountain bike races. At the age of 14, he biked across the mainland United States on a "Donuts, not Drugs" campaign. A few years later, he biked across Scotland. Nick has yet to bike across the Big Island, but it's all just a matter of time.

Jason Nicholas
Soon after he began riding bikes, Jason got his first job in a bike shop as a mechanic. According to local legend, Jason was, at the time, 11 years old. Since signing onto that first bike shop job, Jason's gone to college, become an Eagle Scout, built a mountain bike park, worked for the Air Force in "aerodynamic philosophy," patrolled national parkland and a wolf reserve on his trusty mountain bike, ran a paintball business that spanned two states, and learned how to fly planes – not necessarily in that order.

He's also done a fair amount of backpacking, rock climbing and 4-wheeling in his former home state of Colorado. Settling down in Kona, Jason mountainbikes and has taken up spearfishing. Jason doesn't own a car – he gets around town on his Specialized SX Trail and his Voodoo steel single-speed.

Vern Sekafetz
Assistant Manager Vern Sekafetz has been with Bike Works since 2006. A native of Oregon, Vern was an avid snowboarder until he injured his knee in a fall. He bought a bike to rehab his knee and quickly fell in love with his new ride. Vern rode his bike to his local bike shop and applied for a job. That was 14 years ago. He hasn't left the business since.

Vern's checked out every aspect of the sport – road racing, mountain biking, and cyclocross. When Vern noticed the increasing popularity of triathlon, he signed up to race to find out first-hand what type of gear, apparel and nutrition triathletes need. Vern moved to the Big Island when he was called by the aloha of the community and the warm-water surfing. At Bike Works, Vern does sales and bike fits and works as purchasing manager.

Gregory Luck
Greg sold his last car and moved to Kona in 1997. He's since left the island "permanently" at least 4 times. He's bike toured on dirt in several western states, Alaska, Canada, New Zealand. (He once tried riding to the Moon, but suffered from GaLactic Acid build-up.)

He's responsible for the website and its principal photography, plus works as a mechanic and in sales when lured into it by the promise of great trail riding. See more pics.