Photo courtesy of Spokes and Motors.
A rooftop tent is displayed at Spokes and Motors in Blairmore. The Nomadic 3 Extended model includes a sunroof, rain fly, LED lighting, and storage compartments.
Nicholas L. M. Allen
Apr 2, 2025
Business continues to grow with strong community support
Spokes and Motors has been a trusted source for automotive repairs and accessories in the Crowsnest Pass since 2018, and this year, the local business is hitting the trail with a new expansion into the overlanding market.
The owners, Joe and Melissa Hvizdos, have long been avid campers, starting out sleeping in the back of a Toyota truck under a canopy.
“We’ve been camping for many, many years…,” Joe Hvizdos said, “After having kids, we moved to bumper pull campers, but now that our kids are older and don’t always come with us, we found ourselves returning to our roots.”
That return to the basics led them to rooftop tents. The first tent they bought from a big retailer and were disappointed with the quality of the product.
“We replaced that tent with an over land vehicle systems tent and the quality is what we expected and the features were more than we expected,” Hvizdos said.
Impressed by the product, they decided to bring it to the community as part of their business. Now, Spokes and Motors carries a selection of rooftop tents and other overlanding gear, which customers can explore online thanks to a newly updated website. The site features an online store, a journal of the team’s adventures, a customer page, photo gallery, and meet-the-staff section.
In addition to this new venture, the business still offers a wide range of services: custom exhaust, classic car and truck work, ATV and UTV repairs, tires, diesel work, air conditioning and “pretty much anything other than motorcycles and heavy-duty,” they explained.
Spokes and Motors continues to build momentum with weekly product showcase posts on Facebook and Instagram every Friday. They’re also looking forward to connecting with customers at the Pincher Creek Trade Show on April 25 and 26.
Through all the growth and change, community support remains at the heart of their story.
“The community has been wonderful,” Hvizdos said. “People are very pleasant to talk to and deal with, and we understand our business wouldn’t still be open if it wasn’t for the community, repeat customers and word of mouth.”
Hvizdos wanted to say “thank you to our customers” most of all.
