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A Short Shop History in Pictures


 

 

1984. Being situated across the street from the famous Geri's Hamburgers restaurant sure had its perks at lunchtime. With tune-ups selling for only $14.95 each, this well-placed Coke machine was a great part-time staffer, netting us some much appreciated dollars each week at that time!  Note our first sign, hand painted by Ann!

Wow! In 2017 we celebrated being in business for 35 years! We can't believe how fast time has gone. We still remember moving to Janesville, a city we had never been to before, and learning the business using the old trial-by-fire method. But we've persevered and are proud to say that we have come to be the premier bike shop in Rock County and beyond! (OK, forgive my biased opinion, but a little self-promoting won't hurt here, will it?) Over the years we've made lots of friends and have had the pleasure to meet scores of fantastic customers! Thank you for all your support; it has been a privilege to service the bike industry in this area.

But most of all I need to thank our staff. Without them none of this would have been possible. Cliché as it sounds, it's true. We have been able to succeed because of wonderful individuals who have a passion for our shop similar to ours. I would like to say thank you to our fantastic manager Bob who has been with since 1989 (!) as well as to Corey, our head mechanic who joined us in 2001, and our son Hans who has been around the shop since he was born, but has made Michael's Cycles his home since 2001 as well.  There are many other current and past staff members that have made us what we are, but I do not want to list any more for fear of forgetting someone.

Click on the pictures below to see a bigger version and to read a bit extra. We'll post more as time allows.

Mike and Ann

Our storefront in 1987. We installed new siding, gave the building a new paint job and said good-bye to the Coke machine. You know, we needed to class up the joint! Things must be good!
BMX was huge at the time. Man I miss those days. Every kid used to actually ride a bike and many knew how to take their bikes apart and put them back together again; more or less!
Delivery Time! Our showroom was our store room for a little while until we could find a place upstairs, in the spare bedroom, to store the boxes!
White mags were all the rage. Put those on a neon pink, green or baby blue frame, and man, you were happening! Or whatever it was called back in 1986 or so!
Ann was anything but prissy when it came to helping out at the shop! Although new to the bike retail world, she dug right in and got her hands dirty every day - fingernails and all!
Our first official staff hire: John F. A great, friendly kid who simply rode his bike EVERYWHERE! John reminded me of the lead character in Breaking Away including receiving a ticket from the police for drafting a truck on Racine avenue on his bike!
Russ came to us from a work program through Parker H.S. and later worked for us part time. Great kid!
Our first full-timer is born! Hans was always around the shop but started earning a paycheck when he was about 14!
We convinced Bob to quit his hair-band and become a full-timer at our shop in 1989. Here he is a year or two later with Andy, another avid biker and part-timer at our shop.
We traded our Datsun 280z for a truck! We needed a truck, but man, I sure missed that car!
Another one of our earlier staffers, Tom H, helping a customer.