Despite the “for sale” sign in its window, Marion Cycle Works has no intention of laying on the brakes.
Marion Cycle Works is a bicycle shop located in downtown Marion. It sells bikes and bike parts, offers repairs and facilitates community through its annual bikepacking trip.
Owner Michael Mathias opened the shop seven years ago. What he thought would be a small, neighborhood bike shop has flourished into a distinct business, attracting people for specific services as well as visitors from out of town.
Not too long ago, though, the owner of the property told Mathias he was selling the shop’s current building, and up went the real estate sign.
While Mathias recognizes the uncertainties regarding the property, he is not necessarily worried, he said. He is currently on a lease which will allow his business to stay in the building for a couple of years. And while he does hope to remain in it long term, he ultimately believes that whatever happens to the physical space, his real “equity” is in the relationships he’s built over time.
Owning Marion Cycle Works is a joy for Mathias, and he doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.
“That’s why I’m here, because I enjoy this,” he said. “I like bicycles. I like coming to work.”
A lot can happen in seven years
Mathias opened Marion Cycle Works back in October 2019, he said. However, his love for bikes started even further back.
“I’ve been into biking, kind of as long as I can remember,” he said. “My dad was really into bikes growing up, and so that passion kind of bled over into me, and I started working on older bikes and fixing bikes up… Then, of course, as I got older, through school, my friends were riding. I really wanted to get into BMX, so I got a BMX bike. At some point I got a mountain bike. And then out of high school, I started to get more into road riding and road bikes.”
Mathias went on to work some odd jobs, he said, one of which was at Curfman’s Cyclery in Marion. Here, he learned about the world of bicycle mechanics, eventually leading to the realization that he enjoyed this work and would love to own his own shop if he could.
In 2019, he decided to go for it. He left his job at Curfman’s in pursuit of opening his own shop. That summer, he discovered the building Marion Cycle Works currently inhabits.
He spent the rest of the summer acquiring the tools for the shop and transforming the building, allowing him to open that fall.
“I opened the doors, and just had little bits and pieces of inventory, not very much, but mostly focused on repair and service and builds,” Mathias said. “And yeah, careful what you wish for, because it just exploded – people coming from all over the place.”
The upcoming years would be a roller coaster for the young shop.
In 2020, its first year of business, while the rest of the world shut down, the biking world boomed.
“I sold out of every bike that I could get in. Every cable tire tube, every saddle, the pedals. Sold out of everything, pretty much,” he said.
The boom eventually gave way to an inventory shortage, and they had to get creative to keep operations flowing, he said. Even now, there is still unpredictability with regards to inventory. Changes around the world continue to affect manufacturing and the availability of parts. However, Mathias recognizes this as simply part of being a small business.
“It's been a heck of a driveway up to now, leading into starting a small business,” he said. “The good news is that we're here. We're growing every year a little bit.”
Riding forward
Owning a business always comes with a bag of surprises, Mathias said, but his favorite is all of the relationships he’s formed.
When people have a unique hobby or activity, they often meet people through structured, more formal events. The perk of owning a bike shop is that Mathias gets to meet people who share his passions every day, simply when they walk through the door. The shop has provided him with a network of awesome people, he said.
This community is on full display during their annual backpacking trip, the Swift Campout, which is an event celebrated by bike communities all over the world.
People simply show up to the shop in the morning with their bikes and backpacks, then they ride a short route together to a camp spot where they will spend the night hanging out and getting to know one another, Mathias said. The following morning, they ride back together and have breakfast downtown.
This year’s Swift Campout is June 20-21. If someone is interested, all they need to do is stop by the shop and say so.
Mathias emphasized that the event is open to anyone.
“I’ve had people go on the trip that are well-seasoned veteran tourers or bike packers or adventurers, and they have no issue, and they still have a lot of fun on this little trip,” he said. “I also have people that have maybe never slept outside before, or they've never been on a bike packing trip before. It's the first one for them. So it's also a great opportunity for people to kind of learn and sort of dip their toe in the water with bike packing and adventure riding.”
He wants to make biking approachable for people, he said. While he loves biking down to the small details – the machinery, craftsmanship and mechanics – he also acknowledges that biking is special in a broad sense too. People can enjoy biking simply for recreation and the freedom it gives.
Moving forward, Mathias hopes to continue growing slowly, remaining a small business and stewarding the community that has formed. He values the authenticity he’s cultivated and believes there's value in conveying a genuine passion and appreciation for the work one does.
“I want to continue to grow, I want to keep doing cool things, but I still want to do them well,” he said. “I want to curate them well.”
With seven years of business under his belt and many more to go, if Mathias could tell his 2019 self anything, it would be to keep showing up, do the work and enjoy it.
People can visit Marion Cycle Works at 207 S Washington St and keep up with the shop on Instagram @marioncycleworks.
Rapid fire questions with Mathias
What’s the best month for biking?
Locally, the best month for biking–my favorite time to ride in our county is in the fall.
What’s the best bike to get for beginners?
My best advice is if somebody is very entry-level and they want a bike that’s decent, but they don't want to drop a bunch of cash– going into your local shop and trying to find a decently used bike, like something that's maybe a couple years older and a decent name brand seems to be the best line of action.
What brands should people look out for?
I would say for beginners, the thing you really want to look at is look at the components on the bike and make sure those components are name brands. Bike companies will never put cheap components on an expensive bike. If you look at the components and there's no branding on them– they don’t say Shimano or Sram– then more than likely the bike may not be good quality.
What are the best/most beautiful surrounding areas to go biking?
I really enjoy riding sort of northwest of here, so from downtown sort of heading up towards La Fontaine area…but riding up in that area, toward Wabash, and doing a loop and coming back. I really love that area. There are some soft rolling hills, some beautiful turns, some good wooded areas out there.
