Bike shops of years gone by...

[Sevenhills1952]

Curious what other people's memories are of bike shops years ago.
There was one in Central Virginia called Smittys. I can't find anything about him on the web or a shame I didn't take pictures but this fellow had a small house and a wooden garage , I'm guessing he passed away maybe in the 70s-80s.
He always had bikes for sale, he brush painted them all "Smitty Red" we called it. Average price was like $25-$40.
He always wore bib overalls, no tax for cash, bikes had used mix/match parts and everything was finger tight! The garage was filled with used parts, tires, etc.
Just about everyone I knew had a "Schmid special".
Great price...you just had to tighten everything![emoji3]

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

 

[mickeyc]

I remember Power's bike shop in Royal Oak Michigan back in the 50's. Converted garage behind the house. Eventually made it to a retail building for awhile.

 

[MrColumbia]

In Westfield there was "Elm Sporting Goods". The store was devided in half with the left half selling sporting goods. specializing in fly fishing and the right half was the home town authorized Columbia Bicycles dealer. The owner was a famous fly fisherman and would teach fly casting out in front of the shop in the middle of the street. Cars would have to stop for him.

The shop was old, with wooden plank floors that creaked when you walked. Hand made plank shelves lined the walls. Any part you needed for a Columbia bike, nomatter how old, thay had.

When the old owner died around 1980 the shop was closed. My father and I wanted to try and pick its contents but without notice the building was demolished and bulldozed. I have no idea if anyone got the chance to pick through the remaining contents.

 

[cyclingday]

I lived about equal distance between two Schwinn dealerships.
Sea Schwinn in Costa Mesa, Ca. and South Coast Schwinn in Santa Ana.
Both were typical of the 1960's Schwinn, full concept store that was pioneered by George Garner of San Fernando's Valley Schwinn.
The shop that actually serviced my neighborhood locally, was called Slipsons Cyclery.
An old Armenian couple ran the shop.
The old guy didn't have much patience for us kids, but he was very knowledgeable in what was fast becoming the "10 Speed" road bike craze.
They were primarily a Motobecane dealer, but had other French brands in stock.
That's where I bought my first Peugeot when I got interested in European road bikes.
When they retired, they sold the shop to a young College age couple from Boston, who quickly renamed the shop none other than, Boston Bicycles.
They were the ones that introduced the area to what would be known as the "Townie Bike."
I remember him telling me, that is what all the kids were riding around campus.
After they left the area, the shop got bought out by the Costa Mesa Bike Shop, and that is where I bought my first Raleigh.
Unfortunately, that location is now a Vietnamese Nail Salon.
I hear they do good work, and that you can practically get high from the Acetone fumes.
Such is the bicycle business, I guess. Lol!

 

[TRUEBLUE1981]

Funny you mentioned it cyclingday. I own a bike w sea schwinn bike store sticker from costa mesa its a cruiser 5

 

[49autocycledeluxe]

I remember the Schwinn shop in Fremont in the Glenmoor neighborhood. owned by jack Lennon or it could have been a different name.. I was just a kid after all. I mostly remember a big line of Schwinn Krates in every color and all the cool accessories on display. I even remember his ad in the yellow pages of the phone book, there were drawings of chopper style bikes in it.

it was right across the street from my school. go to the "Glenmoor Variety " store and get slurpees and candy with my lunch money, go next door to the pharmacy and read all the HOT ROD magazines, go to the hobby shop and look at models and cool stuff, then go look at bikes at the bike shop. out on our bikes cruising all over town and our parents had no idea where we were , only that we would be home at 6:00 for dinner.

do kids even ride bikes or go out on their own anymore?

 

[phantom]

Al Petri and Sons ( Bicycle Don ) Fort Street Lincoln Park, MI. was a great place in the day.

 

[Oilit]

Al Petri and Sons ( Bicycle Don ) Fort Street Lincoln Park, MI. was a great place in the day.

I've got a couple of bikes with their stickers, according to the internet they're still in business.

 

[Boris]

Pee Wee's Schwinn Shop in Cleveland Heights. My friend Arthur bought the last remaining Whizzer kit on the shelf there in 1964 or 1965. Made a great beater whizzer out of it too.

 

[morton]

For anyone in the York, PA area it was Red Klinedinst. They had been in business for many, many decades and closed about 6 or 8 years ago. But even near the end you could find almost anything. And if you found something you paid the price originally marked many years prior. During the Great Depression and afterwards many locals purchased bikes there with a small down payment and paid the rest a little bit at a time. No set installment plan, you just paid what and when you could until your debt was settled. My father in law got his first bike that way.

https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2008/06/26/wheeelmen/31596709/