Wheels of fortune

HOW HE ROLLS: Leo LaBelle, owner of Dash Bicycle and Dash Delivery on Broadway in Providence, got his start in the bicycle-messenger business as a fill-in for a courier one summer. He says Dash is one of only two shops in Rhode Island that carry Bianchi bicycles. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
HOW HE ROLLS: Leo LaBelle, owner of Dash Bicycle and Dash Delivery on Broadway in Providence, got his start in the bicycle-messenger business as a fill-in for a courier one summer. He says Dash is one of only two shops in Rhode Island that carry Bianchi bicycles. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

The Dash Inc. businesses, Dash Delivery and Dash Bicycle Shop, began with one man, one bike.

In 1994, Leo LaBelle filled in as a bicycle messenger at a courier service, for an employee who took the summer off.

Once the summer ended, he was out of work, but hatched his own courier business. He started small, by adding supplementary deliveries to the attorneys and other clients serviced by his former employer.

Eventually, Dash Delivery grew large enough for him to hire more bike messengers.

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By 2009, the business had evolved into a brick-and-mortar location. LaBelle decided to open a bicycle repair and sale shop, at 267 Broadway in Providence, after seeing the space for lease in an early-morning ride. He realized that this would be a perfect location for a bicycle repair shop, because the only other option then was on the East Side.

At the time, bicycle couriers had already seen a change in business demand. Initially, when he started his company, the messengers delivered reams of paperwork for architects, attorneys and court employees. Most of the work revolved around the legal profession and its need to deliver documents securely and quickly.

The advent of digital communications changed all that. The first major client to disappear was the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Rhode Island, LaBelle said. Once the courts turned to online services, the couriers saw an immediate drop in demand.

Like other businesses affected by the digital revolution, the messenger service has evolved. One of Dash Delivery’s largest clients is Zipcar Providence, the service that allows people to reserve, for short-term windows, fully fueled vehicles. The messengers of Dash are dispatched to move the cars from lots where they are dropped off by customers, to other locations, or to fetch them when they have minor mechanical or repair needs.

Dash Delivery is also now geared toward corporate lunches, transporting food to companies in Providence.

Through all the changes, the popularity of biking in Providence has increased, said LaBelle. When he opened the shop, the city had no bike lanes on Broadway. Now, bike lanes are being created and recreational trails have expanded as well.

The shop employs three people full time, including LaBelle. The business involves repairs as well as new sales. The shop carries Bianchi-brand bikes, as well as lines by All-City, Masi Bicycles and Tribe Bicycle Co.

With repairs, the shop employees will try to fix any bike. Children’s bicycles, commuter bikes, road bikes, they all come through the business. One of the initial misconceptions about the shop, he said, was that people might think it was a “hipster bike shop” and unwelcoming to novices. Not true.

“We fix anything,” LaBelle said. “My own belief is, ‘More butts on bikes.’ ” •

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