This Abilene business puts a new spin on fun in the city

Bike ABI is a triple-threat when it comes to fun.

While cultivating different ways to enjoy Abilene and a night on the town, owners recently opened The Handle Bar at Bike ABI.

The grand opening celebration for the bar at 409 S. Treadway Blvd. begins 5 p.m. Saturday. Offerings include Sherrod's Craft BBQ Food Truck, Kyle Fambro & Jared McLane playing live music on the patio from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. and a pop-up cigar tent from The Leaf.

In addition, Bike ABI's karaoke rooms will be open for demonstration. Mini party bike rides will be available, and pedicabs will be on display and for hire

The Handle Bar offers beverages such as beer, seltzers and wine. Hours are 4 p.m.-midnight Tuesday-Friday and 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday. The bar is also available to rent for private parties.

Bike ABI offers tours on a 15-passsenger party bike and five pedicabs — drivers provided, a bar to enjoy a drink and good company, and karaoke caves that can bring even the most fainthearted only-in-the-shower singer to the mic.

It's all about putting a smile on people's faces.

"That's ultimately our goal is just to create a fun business," Seth Merritt, one of the owners, said in an interview Thursday.

The owners have drawn part of their inspiration from Bike ABI's location — the spot where Pappy Slokum Brewing Company used to be.

When Bike ABI took over the brewery space, it was already set up like a bar inside, so the owners decided to create a little bar within the bike business, Merritt said.

Bike ABI created karaoke caves from two rooms in the former brewery's warehouse section.

“We have dart boards and a pool table, and the rooms we're calling karaoke caves because it's a private karaoke lounge, essentially," Merritt, a Cooper High School graduate, said.

The popular karaoke platforms are available for private parties. One has a capacity of 12 people and the other 18.

"You and all your friends come in for the allotted amount of time, and it's a self-serve, self-operational karaoke, so we don't have to have a DJ in there," Merritt said.

“But we found that it's really, really, really fun," he said. "A lot of people like it because they wouldn't sing karaoke necessarily in front of a bunch of strangers in a bar, but they would definitely do it in front of all their friends when they're drinking and having a good time.”

The wheels started turning back in October for Bike ABI when the party bike and pedicabs launched.

The 15-passenger party bike is available for private tours for birthdays and other events, as well as mixer tours that give people a chance to try it out without being part of a bigger group. The bike can hit the streets for a one-hour tour that will include a 20-minute stop along the way or a two-hour tour with two 20-minute stops.

The stops have been at local taverns, but the bike could hit the brakes at a coffee shop or other business downtown, Merritt said.

Each pedicab can seat two adult passengers for a local brew tour, and tours for wine-tasting, craft cocktails and foodies are in the works.

Merritt said biking has always been a hobby that is part of his life.

"My dad has always ridden long distance," he said. "So I grew up riding with him, me and my sister did."

Bike ABI puts a new spin on that hobby in at least three different ways.

Contact the business at bikeabi.com or bikeabitx@gmail.com.

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Trish Choate is the interim editor for the Wichita Falls Times Record News, San Angelo Standard-Times and Abilene Reporter-News. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here . Her X handle is @Trishapedia .

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: This Abilene business puts a new spin on fun in the city