Meet Pullins
I’ve started working as a bicycle mechanic again, it’s brought me nothing but health.
The shop I wrench at, Pullins Cyclery, is one of eight in a 10 block area of downtown Chico. It’s not a big shop, it’s not a high volume shop, and I wouldn’t call it a boutique. The bikes we sell most of are in the low to mid price range, and our stock of shiny new parts is normally a bit shorter than what some may expect. However, the shop has been doing well for over 90 years, winning “Best Bike Shop in Chico” every year for the past 13.
The current owner (whose workbench I commandeer) bought the store from old man Pullins himself in the seventies. Steve’s a good boss, a solid mechanic, an Irish music enthusiast, and a long-haul citizen of Chico. He runs an honest shop plans to keep it that way.
The shop is relatively clean, meaning it’s about as clean as a century old bike shop with hard wood floors can be, which is by most standards relatively filthy. There are more than three shop cats, I think, and they chew on birds out back and flirt with customers up front. The space is quite small is reflected in our standing inventory, density of the mechanic’s area, and the sharing of roles sales/service/bartender.
I was made so much more aware of all of this by a very busy thread over on the Bike Pirates community livejournal. Relating some god awful and some really inspiring bike shop experiences, this thread made me quite glad to work in a shop I can respect so much. We may not be able to serve every need, and we may not be able to compete on a price-matching level with internet mail-order, but gotdamn if this isn’t the kind of bike shop I would open if I were so inclined.