Cycling in St. Louis

Mike Brewer
3951 days ago.

teenage mutant ninja turtles Recall those little rites of passage when you were a child; staying up an extra hour or two during your Summer break, hosting a sleepover at your house with a couple of friends or learning how to ride a bike? Remember giving a lift to that one friend that didn’t have a bike? You had a choice handle bars or if you were lucky enough to have pegs, he or she could stand behind you and hold tight to your shoulders. Or, do you recall positioning the ace of spades just right so that it strummed the spokes of your tire? The sounds of Summer wouldn’t be the same without it. And Summer wouldn’t be the same without your bike, so make sure it’s ready when you are.

A couple of weeks ago we started to pack up the family for a bike ride. Destination: Katy Trail. Given: tons of fun, excellent workout and time spent with the family. Problem: flat tires, broken break-line, ill-adjusted seats and some weird chain problem. Solution: we had to put off the bike riding idea and find a good bike shop. The following is not meant to be a definitive list of bike shops but rather the ones that caught my eye in researching this article.

My hope is you add to it. 

Sunset Cyclery

Sunset caught my eye because of the repair classes that they offer to their customers. Not that I don’t have the time to do it myself, but I’m certain a few minutes invested with a trained technician would save me a few headaches down the road.

Big Shark Bicycle Company

How can you miss these guys? And, they seem like a ton of fun. In addition to their bicycle university, they offer up an event calendar and racing teams. And I love the way they single out kids by referring to them as Little Sharks. How fun is that?

Maplewood Bicycle

While I am certain that being fit (fit like a good pair of jeans, not fit like being in shape) for a bicycle is part of every good bicycle shop experience; Maplewood calls it out on their website. I must say, I never gave that point much thought. I kind of figured that if you had to use the curb to give you a boost on the bike seat, then it is set too high. Or, if your knees hit you in the chin when you pedal, then the seat is too low.

St. Louis BWorks

This shop really caught my eye for reasons beyond my needs. You can read more about their mission and their history here. The thing that really struck me most is their absolute dedication to helping kids and giving people in the community a chance to volunteer. Kids get a chance to earn a free bike in exchange for some hands on learning about bicycle safety and maintenance. Volunteers get a chance to have their own lives impacted by helping “at-risk” enjoy this little rite of passage.

You can also use many of these shops as a reference for fun races and group bike riding events to attend. In addition, Great Rivers Greenway, Trailnet, SLAG & Gateway Off-Road Cyclists are excellent sources to find out who’s cycling where in STL.

Your Favorite Shops

Are you ready for the Summer cycling season? Do you have a favorite shop? Give it a shout-out in the comments, we would love to hear about it.

 

Brought to you by Mills Properties

Images courtesy of thesewerden & mostateparks

Mike Brewer

Out to put a dent in the Multifamily Universe

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