What

I'm looking for shops located within or near large(r) metropolitan areas that are commuter-friendly (lockers, showers, bike storage, etc) in the USA.

Anyone know of any?

misterE0

Lance's new store in Austin has all that I believe.

https://www.austin360.com/recreation/...4bikeshop.html

What

Yeah, I was wondering if his shop is the first of its kind. Though, I've yet to see or hear anything about MJ's facilities.

There's got to be some shops out there doing something similar.

sharkey00

It isn't a shop but the building I work in has all of that stuff. You get a nice wooden box to shove your bike in as well as a shower.

JeffS

Black Sheep in Charlotte - at least so they say.

lil brown bat

Why would a shop have all those things?

pinkrobe

I was thinking the same thing. If a shop was in the city center, open from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., they might be able to make a go of it if they charged $2 for 8 minutes of hot water plus a changing area.

OP: What are you driving at with this question?

Andy_K 

There's a company in Portland, OR (Bike Republic) which claims it has existed since 2004 with the intention of providing these services, but so far they have no actual locations.

duppie

Chicago has had that for awhile now: Millenium Bike Parking. Storage, showers, service, accessory sales, rentals. No bikes though
Duppie

jamesdenver

One of the best in Denver - The Cherry Creek Bike Rack

They don't have showers - but have bike storage, freshing up sinks and changing rooms, repairs, commuter gear, and bike rentals. (Good for tourists or when friends visit)

They're operated by Campus Cycles - a local bike shop, and also in partnership with a local city agy called Transportation Solutions.

Great place - visit them when in Denver. And no I don't work there.

What

The idea for providing these facilities in a shop setting intrigued me, particularly reading all the hype generated for Lance's shop in Austin (interestingly, everything I read about the shop since its opening spoke nothing of this).

A common excuse heard from most could-be bike commuters to the downtown Miami area is the lack of showers, secure storage, etc. There aren't even gyms in the area (save for private condo tower gyms). I'm curious to see if there are any shops out there that are providing these facilities to encourage commuting via bike.

bsyptak

A local gym provides 90% of this (no bike goods) for about the same price, but includes a full gym. Plus think how expensive the real estate would be to make the location attractive enough to be used.

lil brown bat

Oh...you mean, like, you'd ride to the bike shop, take a shower and lock up your bike there, and then...walk to work? Take the bus to work?

pinkrobe

So you're looking for a "bike stop", similar to a truck stop. I'd say it's doable, as long as competing facilities don't exist [i.e. gyms or fitness centers]. The basic model could be:
* bike storage
* showers + change room with day lockers
* same-day bike repair
* cafe [doppio FTW]
* accessory sales

The establishment would need to be separated into separate bike/shower/cafe zones. The cafe and shop have side-by-side frontage, the shower and storage sit in behind. The problems I see with this are the price of downtown real estate and the bike storage. $/sq ft is what it is, but the storage issue - I'd go vertical, with employee access only. Bike lockers take up too much space, IMHO. Other than that, each portion of the business should be able to stand alone. The cafe shouldn't be used to prop up the bike side or vice-versa.

Quickbeam

+1. It would be nice if I had all that stuff here at the office but when I go to the shop I generally have no need (or desire) to shower, store my bike, etc.

Quickbeam

Oh, maybe that's it...

Technojunkie

How about simply positioning the "bike stop" near a bike store and coffee shop? You'd only have to really worry about the bike store since coffee shops are everywhere. Work out marketing arrangements with those shops. Position near a greenway, bus system hub, whatever's available. Set up some kind of automated bike storage system for 24x7 access and efficient use of space. If you can find an automated shower room cleaning system, buy it. A small storefront and a larger portion of a basement might make for a more cost-effective combo: neither the storage or shower areas need windows. If you design it right you can run the stop with next to no staff and replicate the stores easily if demand warrants it. Sell convenience and cleanliness. If it really takes off, sell out to Starbucks .

What

Yes. A centric location is key, which made me wonder what kind of numbers Mellow Johnny's attracted as far as commuters. I've only been to Austin once, so I can't really say.

In terms of Miami, we have a free light-rail system that can get you to most downtown areas fairly easily. We have a year-round cycling climate, but constant heat/humidity and few facilities (hence, the excuses).

lil brown bat

As you've conceived of it, what you have here is a parking garage (for bicycles) with shower facilities. Nothing wrong with that, but think about parking garages for cars. Do people drive their cars to a parking garage, get out...and then take a bus or a train to get somewhere else? Only in special circumstances, as in a parking garage that's connected with a transit line. For the most part, if people are going to park in a parking garage, they want it to be near to wherever they're going. Why would cyclists be any different? So it's location, location, location -- a cyclist would use a facility like this if it were located close to their work and offered a significant advantage over whatever facilities they have at work. It sounds like a pretty small market to me.

What

Good insight. When it comes down to raw numbers, it probably wouldn't be feasible unless you had some sort of municipal/county sponsorship or nonprofit status. Maybe the question is whther or not any local governments have tried to do something like this?

dynaryder

They've been talking about building something like this down by Union Station in DC. Full facilities,covered/indoor parking,and a full service shop. Not holding my breath,but crossing my fingers.

What

Is it the local gov't? Any idea where I can find information on it?

dingster1

I don't know Dynaryder, Fenty seems like an avid cyclist, he may get it done.