Spring is right around the corner and that means it’s time to saddle up and hit the road!

Tell us about Mike’s Bikes STL.

Mike’s Bikes is a small neighborhood bicycle shop that provides bicycle services, rentals and we sell accessories and new bicycles. We’ve got a full service repair shop. We do everything as far as maintenance. Our turnaround time is pretty quick- we’ve got six stands so we can work on bikes pretty quickly. Our turnaround time is usually about 48 hours.

What makes Mike’s Bikes unique?

When my business partner and I came up with the idea of the bike shop, of Mike’s Bikes in the Central West End, we focused the bike shop around the daily commuter instead of the more race-oriented riders, which we felt a lot of the bicycle shops were geared and centered around.

Who is your typical customer at Mike’s Bikes?

We do a lot of business with college kids, whether they are at SLU, Wash U or the School of Pharmacy.

What happens when someone walks through your doors?

The first question we’ll ask them is “What is their use of the bicycle going to be?” Whether it’s going to be going to school, commuting, just some leisure exercise around Forest Park, getting groceries , or is it going to be used for longer distances, camping, packing, or hitting gravel roads.

What is your most popular bike?

Our most popular bike is definitely a sport fitness style hybrid. It’s perfect for the college student. The cost is fairly low compared to some of the more expensive road bikes, but it’s perfect for the average college student, as well as someone who just wants to go around Forest Park for some leisure exercise.

You recently expanded your showroom. Tell us about that.

Right now we are standing in our new showroom floor. We took the upstairs of the building. This was the one opportunity to expand if we wanted to stay in this neighborhood, so we jumped on it.

What do you like most about being located in the Central West End?

It’s a fun neighborhood. I would say it’s the best neighborhood in Saint Louis. It’s very eclectic, it’s very unique. Most of the residents and people are not from this area.

Where can people go for more information about Mike’s Bikes?

You can visit us at our website mikesbikesstl.com. If you have any questions, you can email us at info@mikesbikesstl.com.