A bike shop I keep coming back to

January 8, 2026
bike shop trackstand portrait

There is a bike shop on a corner I do not live near. I have been going to it for ten years. I have moved twice in that decade. The shop has not moved and I have not stopped going.

What it has

  • Two mechanics who know my bike by name.

  • A wall of secondhand parts that is more useful than any catalogue.

  • A dog.

  • The kind of music that suggests nobody is in charge of the playlist, which is also the correct kind of music.

  • A culture where being a beginner is not a humiliation.

What it does not have

  • Online ordering.

  • A particularly current website.

  • Aggressive upselling.

  • Any sense that they wish I were spending more money.

The thing I have finally figured out is that the shop is not transactional. I go there because the room is good. I buy what I need while I am in the room because I am already in the room. The order of operations matters.

The shop is not transactional. I go there because the room is good.