Help me with detective work. The Pedal Pusher Newport Beach, CA

[mr.cycleplane]

Thanks for the great memories-those definitely were the glory days for the Pedal Pusher shop in the 80's. Mike-Charlie-John are still around! the Pedal Pusher shop was the definite pulse of the hobby at the time. The other great shop was Recycled Cycle run by Larry McNealy. Long before reproduction decals there was fantastic paintwork by John Weider. He did several bikes on top of running a Schwinn Bike shop. Can you imagine painting the spokes on the motorbike wing decal? John's work was phenomenal! Charlie Churchill was and is still the nicest guy you could know-always helped people get great deals at the shop. Mike is still in the area-doing jewelry I heard. And Gertrude and Henry will forever be remembered fondly by anyone who ever met them. As mentioned previously in this thread-the ever famous Pedal Pusher t-shirts. Those need to be reproduced-maybe someone could get ahold of Mike and get permission. I think I literally wore a dozen to the point of being tattered rags. Thanks Mike for keeping the memory of the Pedal Pusher alive!

 

[OC_Rolling_Art]

"Long before reproduction decals there was fantastic paintwork by John Weider"

Thanks for the clarification, it was John Weider who painted my bike, not Wheater. I volunteer to re-create the artwork for a return of the The Pedal Pusher t-shirts, I just don't know how to get ahold of Mike V. for permission. I will dig a little.

 

[mrg]

Wow, this is bringing back some great memories, a few years after High school in the late 70's moved down to 11th & Orange HB and our routine soon became Surf in the morning, hang at a few surf shops, W & S, Gordie, Robert August and end up at Georges Surf shop to eat at Jan's Health food Bar ( in the back of the shop ) for a surf shop special then back to the garage to grab a bike and head to Pedal pusher ( thru all 3 locations ) to see what new and interesting stuff Gertrude had dug out ( decorated a few houses with those nos paint 1/2 DX tanks & still have a few! ) so we could build our Klunkers to cruise the pier looking for girls and waiting for glass off, if it didn't we would ride over to Recycle Cycle to check out the latest California Cruiser Larry had created. man those were the days, even tho I moved around from Hawaii, Mammoth, Tahoe & Utah surfing, skiing dirt biking was always drawn back to the surf/skate/bike life in socal !, also have great memories of Gertrude, Henry, Larry and all !

 

[indian cruiser]

wow, i just did a google search for the Pedal Pusher in Newport and found this forum. Pretty amazing. i lived in HB when they would have the bike swap meet downtown, then Pedal Pusher would sponsor a bike ride to their shop in Newport. i think they did this a couple times a year. I remember Larry and he helped me out sourcing parts for my Schwinn. Sorry to hear the news of his death (RIP). I had snapped some group pics on the way down to the shop when we did a photo op near the Santa Ana River. I spent alot of time riding from HB and Newport back then. i'll have to get one of those new PP T-shirts. Thanks for allowing me to join. i'll have to find those old pics.

 

[cyclingday]

Welcome to the Cabe!

 

[OC_Rolling_Art]

wow, i just did a google search for the Pedal Pusher in Newport and found this forum. Pretty amazing. i lived in HB when they would have the bike swap meet... I spent alot of time riding from HB and Newport back then. i'll have to get one of those new PP T-shirts. Thanks for allowing me to join. i'll have to find those old pics.

PM Sent!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jamesmc]

I looked one day and saw this tag. I would have liked to have visited their shops. They did incredible work. I stayed up in Balboa in 1995 and my then 10 year old daughter and I biked everywhere. Now I'm biking more with my 11 year old granddaughter.

 

[cyclingday]

One of my builds this year, was this 1948 Schwinn DX, Pedal Pusher Tribute Bike.

Thanks for the memories!

 

[Deleted member 72895]

This is Charlie Grayson (RIP), a true mentor and dear friend of mine! Probably the biggest influence on the paths I taken in my life. In the 70's through the 80's he would ride that cruiser (dressed just like that) from Newport Beach to San Bernardino twice a month visit his elderly mother until she passed. There are a lot of people that claim that he started the "strand" culture (myself being one of them).

In the early 90's when my business really started to take off, I moved myself and my business up to Arroyo Grande. Shortly after getting settled up here, I went down and rode one of my cruisers from Laguna to the peninsula to hunted him down. I found him living in a BEAUTIFUL 20 VW bus in the parking structure under the Fun Zone and made him this offer... "Come up and live on my property for the rest of your live and I'll cover all your experiences."

Well, he smiled and gave me a big hug then declined. Saying that the peninsula was all he knew... And was happy with it staying that way!

Rest in peace Charlie! You are one of the best people I have ever known in my life!

 

[tripple3]

Bump it with News paper articles,
saved by Bruce of Huntington Beach,
for 30+ years!
Marty @cyclingday said he would keep them for the next 30+ years.

and a pic of Tony Parry of Chicago Bikes, Newport Beach.

"I sold him That" Tony, Classic!