Cahaba Cycles – Oak Mountain

On Canopy Trail near the entrance to Oak Mountain State Park, Cahaba Cycles operates the newest of its five Alabama locations, bringing more than four decades of bike-shop experience to Pelham’s growing trail community. The Oak Mountain store opened in August 2023 as the seventh branch in the company’s history, and its position steps from one of the state’s most popular mountain biking destinations was very much by design.

Cahaba Cycles traces back to 1982, when Kal Malki and his wife Barbara opened the original shop in a former Western Supermarket building in Cahaba Heights. What started as a small operation selling basic ten-speed bicycles has grown into one of Alabama’s most recognizable cycling brands, now carrying roughly thirty categories of bikes and outfitting riders from first-time commuters to serious racers. Kal and Barbara’s son, Faris Malki, took over the business in 2016 and has guided its expansion into Gadsden, Trussville, Homewood, and now Pelham.

The Pelham location was built around its proximity to Oak Mountain State Park, and the shop leans into that identity. Staff regularly ride the same trails their customers are shopping for, and the store functions as a full-service repair shop capable of handling nearly any bike issue that walks through the door, not just basic tune-ups. That matters for a location so close to singletrack, where a dropped chain or a bent derailleur can end a ride early if there is nowhere nearby to fix it.

Sales at the Oak Mountain store cover the full range of what Cahaba Cycles carries chain-wide, from trail-ready mountain bikes to the electric bikes that Faris Malki has called the biggest growth area in the industry in recent years. The shop also handles rentals and trade-ins, which makes it a practical stop for visitors staying near Oak Mountain State Park who want to demo a bike before committing to a purchase, as well as for local riders looking to upgrade without letting an old bike go to waste.

Beyond bikes themselves, the Oak Mountain shop stocks apparel, hydration gear, and the kind of small parts that trail riders tend to need on short notice, from tubes and chain lube to helmets and lights. Pairing that inventory with a mechanic on staff means a rider heading out for an afternoon on the mountain can walk in with a mechanical issue and walk out ready to ride within the same visit, a convenience that has made the store a regular stop for the local trail community rather than an occasional destination.

Even with five locations across the Birmingham metro, Cahaba Cycles has kept its identity as a locally owned, rider-operated business rather than a franchise operation. The Oak Mountain team, which includes staff members Jon, Andrew, Jason, and Deason, talks about the shop in terms of relationships built over repeat visits rather than one-off transactions. Deason, who favors riding at Oak Mountain State Park himself, has said the customer connections built at the counter are one of the best parts of the job.

The company’s community involvement extends beyond the retail floor. Cahaba Cycles hosts the annual Tour de Cahaba each July, a ride that draws around 800 participants across multiple distance options and caps off with an after-party, reflecting the same rider-first culture that has defined the business since Kal Malki first opened its doors more than forty years ago.

For Pelham, the Oak Mountain location fills a gap that a big-box sporting goods store cannot: a bike shop staffed by people who actually ride the trails next door, backed by four decades of institutional knowledge about keeping a bike running long after the sale. Cahaba Cycles Oak Mountain is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.