Goodbye Roseville Cyclery, hello Mike's Bikes of Roseville

Roseville Cyclery on 404 Vernon St. in downtown Roseville transitioned to Mike's Bikes of Roseville on March 1 after the bike chain acquired the shop on Feb. 28. Mike's Bikes owns 12 other stores throughout California, including in Folsom and Sacramento. The company was founded in 1964 as one of Marin County's first Schwinn shops, according to its website at mikesbikes.com/pages/our-story. Roseville Cyclery founder Oliver Bell said he has known the Mike's Bikes staff for about 20 years since he used to work with them. Bell reached out to Mike's Bikes last September to see if it would take ownership of his shop because it was getting incredibly busy. "I chose Mike's Bikes because of their ethics, because of the way they're treating my employees," Bell said. "The company is honest and trustworthy." Mike's Bikes President Matt Adams said the company was interested in owning Roseville Cyclery because of the area's many bike enthusiasts, the store fits in geographically with its Sacramento and Folsom locations, and it was the main store that served the Roseville area. "We were just excited about the success that store has had and the market, and Roseville has a pretty big growth trajectory with the population. The downtown feels like it's being revitalized," Adams said. "It was a good match for what we have going on in the greater Sacramento area." Mike's Bikes rehired everybody who worked at Roseville Cyclery at a higher salary and better benefit packages than Roseville Cyclery was able to offer, Bell said. The company also hired Bell back on as the location's general manager. Mike's Bikes of Roseville currently has seven full-time and three part-time employees, according to Bell. Roseville Cyclery founder Oliver Bell is in front of the array of bicycles offered at the shop on 404 Vernon St. recently acquired by Mike's Bikes. Tara Gnewikow/Gold Country Media Eddie Ontes, a Roseville Cyclery tech manager, started working at the store about a month after it opened and has been there for more than nine years. Ontes said he has been working in bike shops for about 18 years and has two certificates from the United Bicycle Institute in Oregon. Ontes said the shops he previously worked at were great places to work and have fun with a rich group of riders, friends and family but they struggled financially and eventually closed. "What Oliver did when he started Roseville Cyclery was they had that environment but they also had a proper business behind it, '' Ontes said. "So I was able to survive throughout all the different ups and downs of the economy." All the employees at Mike's Bikes of Roseville have years of experience and the least amount of experience someone has is about five years, Ontes said. "In the short amount of time since we've been there, the staff there has a lot of first-name basis relationships with the customers," Adams said. "So it's a nice match. They seem to do business with the same philosophy and morals and ethics that we do at our other stores." Adams said Mike's Bikes focuses on a strong connection to the rider, whether that is through a high level of customer service and education or through supporting the cycling community in all of its different forms. Mike's Bikes of Roseville can access inventory from the company's warehouse in Novato within days, whereas previously Roseville Cyclery only had what was in the shop, Bell said. "With our great team and access to this amazing inventory, it really opens up the door for what we can accomplish," Bell said. Mike's Bikes of Roseville on 404 Vernon St., formerly Roseville Cyclery, holds a wide range of bicycles and accessories. Tara Gnewikow/Gold Country Media The current shop with an 1,800-square-foot showroom will move into a larger location in downtown Roseville at the end of October, according to Bell. Bell would not release the new location's address but emphasized that Mike's Bikes of Roseville is committed to downtown Roseville. The contracts and the architecture for the building are already done, Bell said. Mike's Bikes will lease the updated building. Mike's Bikes of Roseville is the No. 1 bike store in the U.S. in terms of sales per square foot, according to Bell. "The only impediment we have is the size of our location," Bell said. "Not being able to display enough product and not being able to display it well and not being able to create a more comfortable shopping environment." Bell opened Roseville Cyclery about nine years ago after managing area bike shops such as Victory Velo in Auburn and Folsom Bike. Bell said he saw many customers come to those shops from Roseville and thought Roseville needed better representation. Growing up in Marin County, Bell rode mountain bikes since he was 17 years old and broke into the bicycle industry when he was hired at Performance Bicycle in San Rafael. With $20,000 in the bank, Bell spent all his money and took out a small business loan to open Roseville Cyclery. Bell said he started out with himself, a business partner and a mechanic and did not get paid for almost two years. "What invigorates me is when you take somebody that hasn't been riding a bike, get them on a bike, they come back in a month and you see in their eyes what you've had in your eyes your whole life that they now have: that passion," Bell said. "And they're going to be a lifetime cyclist." Mike's Bikes general manager and Roseville Cyclery founder Oliver Bell, left, discusses the store's sales with his partners at the location on 404 Vernon St. Tara Gnewikow/Gold Country Media The store sells 1,000-plus bikes a year and its revenue has increased 20 percent each year since it opened, according to Bell. Roseville Cyclery created community through ride groups and working with different teams and clubs in the area, Bell said. The store even had its own bike team and riding club, according to Bell. Roseville Cyclery supported high school mountain bike teams such as the Roseville High School and Oakmont High School teams by offering bikes to high schoolers at a discount, Bell said. Through a customer contribution, the store gave more than 20 foster-care children new high-end bicycles. The shop has also worked with veteran groups such as Ride 2 Recovery to help get veterans on bikes and organize group rides with veterans. Cycling is an integral part for many veterans dealing with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) and different injuries, Bell said. "Mike's Bikes is going to do all the community engagement Roseville Cyclery had already been doing and with the ability to do even more in the future," Bell said. Adams said he is excited to see Bell continue the store's community efforts with the relationships he has built. Mike's Bikes store managers "have a lot of freedom" to engage with the community as they see fit, according to Adams. "It's a big deal that a large company like Mike's Bikes has invested in downtown Roseville," Bell said. "We've been trying so hard downtown to get these bigger companies to come in and for one reason or another they haven't but they're starting to."