Spoke Life Cycles offers sales, service, expert advice

TIFFIN — Mitch Stearns has turned his lifelong love of bicycles into a new downtown business. Spoke Life Cycles officially opened its doors in November for bike sales and service. Actually, the soft opening at 70 E. Market St. in the Laird Building started in September. "I opened the doors as soon as I got things squared away," Stearns said. The store is the result of his lifelong interest in repairing bikes. "I've been riding bikes since I was kid," he said. When he was 14, he said he hung around GT Cycling & Fitness, which was downtown at the time, and learned about repairing bikes. "I worked with him from 14-18 and kept riding bikes after that," he said. When Mark "Bunky" Roehrig of Bunky's Bicycle Service died in 2019, Stearns said he started doing more bike repairs in addition to a "9 to 5" job. "I just got really good at taking care of my bike and friends' bikes," he said. "Last year, it got to be a higher volume (of repairs)." He started talking to Tyler Shuff, property manager in the Laird Building, about a location to open a shop. After researching his options, Stearns said he decided to open a franchise of an already-established bicycle shop, Spoke Life Cycles. "This was my favorite of all the options I had," he said. "They have a nice support system. It's something that's already working. I wanted to give the town something successful." He said the local franchise is familiar with local needs. In addition to the Tiffin store, Spoke Life Cycles has stores in Fremont, Elmore, Perrysburg and Sylvania. The store carries Cannondale, Specialized, Giant and electric bikes from Denago, Biria and Aventon. Other brands include GT Pivot, Santa Cruz, Salsa, TerraTrike and Trident Trike. He encourages people to visit the store before making a purchasing decision. "I can work with you on any brand you're trying to get," he said. "I'm here to bridge the gap between the bike shop and the internet." He said he can ask the right questions to determine the best bike for an individual's needs, and knows about many brands of bikes that aren't highly advertised. He can provide information on which companies have the best customer service. "I can help decide what you're really wanting," he said. In addition, he said anyone who buys through the store gets a professional to put the new bike together and it'll be in top working order when the customer picks it up. "Plus, if you work through me, we get to keep a bike shop," he said. In addition to sales and service, Stearns said he's interested in working with Tiffin's cycling community. He is looking forward to hosting events such as skills classes, maybe a Safety Town for kids and an advanced mountain biking class. He has an idea for a "pumptrack" – a sort of bicycle playground – where cyclists of all skill levels could ride as well as rollerblade and similar activities. "It's a paved bike track with curves and berms," he said. "Anybody can play." He's also interested in adding bike trails in the area and places for mountain biking. Spoke Life Cycles is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.