Shop Local: Metropolis Cycles

Print magazines and brick-and-mortar bike shops go together like single speeds and denim, groms and scabby shins, tire inserts, and profanity. So it should come as no surprise that, even though we don’t have a print magazine (right now), we’re working on a new series highlighting independent bike shops. We think they’re great, we want them to succeed in this constantly changing marketplace, and we want to do what we can to help them with the bully pulpit our title affords us.

If you love a shop, feel free to let us know. We’d love to cover what they’re up to.

Metropolis Cycles in Portland, Oregon is more than just a bike shop; like most of the shops we will be featuring, they are a community hub, a meeting point, and a space where anyone can stop to keep their beloved wheels spinning. The local bike shop is where it all starts, and we love what Metropolis is all about and want to share their story here. We talked with Brad Parker, the owner of Metropolis Cycles, to get a bit more insight into how and why they do things.

Can you give us a quick history of Metropolis?

Metropolis was founded on November 1st, 2008, by Nathan Roll. We started with Service as the main part of the business and selling a few new bikes on the side. We honestly still have that business model, but we have grown from a one-man shop to four full-time mechanics. I have worked at Metropolis as a mechanic for 15 years and purchased the shop from Nathan about 5 years ago.

We love mountain biking, bike packing, and cyclocross. Most of us use bikes as our primary mode of transportation. Keeping Commuters on their bikes is the heart and soul of this bike shop.

What makes Metropolis Cycles really stand out? What’s unique about Metropolis Cycles?

We have the best location of any bike shop in Portland. We are on the main commuter artery to the NE and North quadrants of the city, yet we are still pretty centrally located.

What makes your local riding scene special?

We love Portland because of the ease of bike use in this city. You can sometimes get to places faster by bike than by car. You can ride from the city to forest gravel in moments. Unfortunately, we still need to drive for most of the good MTBing, but it's not too far away. There is a great racing scene in Portland with the help of OBRA. Whether you want to race MTBing, Road, or Cyclocross, there's something for everyone. Bike Summer/ Pedalpalooza/Shift2bike also brings fun back into cycling and creates fun events put on by all sorts of different people all summer long.

If you could change one thing in mountain biking right now, what would it be?

Closer trails. More trails we can ride to from our houses. This takes a ton of work, money, and time. But if the whole community gets behind this common goal, we can get some more off-road cycling accessibility closer for everyone. Building accessible trails closer to the city makes it more convenient and more welcoming to everyone—more diversity on the trails is a good thing. We want to see everyone enjoy the trails. All butts on bikes!

What do you wish you could tell all your customers (could be something as simple as “wash your bike before you bring it in” or as deep and heartfelt as you want)

The more you maintain your bike, the less you will have to spend on it at the shop. Everyone is busy, but if you give your chain 2 mins of attention a week, your drivetrain will last longer, your bike will run better, and your riding experience will be much better.

What’s your mechanics’ beverage of choice?

Beverage of choice we all agree on is coffee. Not everyone drinks beer or booze at our shop, but we all love the jitters.

Any questions we didn’t ask that you’d love to talk about?

Future of the bike industry. More ebikes of poor quality and hard to maintain is a bummer. Bikes designed by engineers who do not ride, or have never removed a bike wheel to fix a flat. Less affordable quality bikes means less butts on bikes. One bike we still love is the Kona Dew since it is a great bike for the price. But it's seriously the only quality bike for a certain price point.

Any advice to folks who want to work in a bike shop?

Yes, you have to do it for the love of it. There is no money in the bike industry, but there's a ton of love. The best way to get into a shop is to avoid bike school. Get a foot in by taking an apprenticeship or volunteering at places like a bike co-op or something. Learn by doing.

Where do you want to see your shop go in the future? Expansions? More community involvement? What are you looking forward to?

We love our space; We would love to stay in our spot as long as possible. But with the everchanging city, we may need to move. Unfortunately with rent/property prices, expansion is not an option for small bike shops, it's all about survival. With all of the small shops closing (Gladys, Cat Six, Block Bikes, Seven Corners, 21st Ave Bicycles, Cascade Cycles, TriTech Bikes, Revolver bikes). The demand for service has quadrupled. With all of us working OT to help people stay on their bikes, it's extremely hard to find more time to engage in community involvement. We are looking forward to staying afloat.

Metropolis Cycles is located at 2249 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227. If you're in the area, stop by to see what they're doing and say hello!

Check out the rest of our Shop Local series here .