Same Shop. Same bikes. New Paint. New Name.
Goodbike now stands in the same building where Mr. Goodbike stood on Northwest 13th Street.
The local bike shop closed earlier this summer. But one of the original owners of Mr. Goodbike, 47-year-old Mike Hetrick, saddled up, dropped the Mr. and opened shop on the Fourth of July.
“I wanted to have our birth on Independence Day,” Mike said. “The shop was empty, but we were here with beer and wings and pizza having a good time.”
Mr. Goodbike originally opened in 2003 after Mike met former owner Gus Woodard.
“We were both bike enthusiasts and thought it would be a fun way to make a living,” he said.
Mike and Gus worked together for the next 10 years, fixing up old bikes, repairing well-loved rides and fitting people to new bikes.
“I kind of like bringing old bikes back from the dead, rehabbing them,” Mike said. “And of course, I like riding my bike.”
After selling his share of the shop to Gus in December 2012, Mike traveled. He went to big bike tours in California and Colorado as a USA Cycling-certified professional bike mechanic. But after a while, he missed his Gainesville roots.
“I’m going back to what I knew here,” he said.
Mike started repairing bikes at The Cycle Shop while he was in high school.
Before he could work in the shop, though, he had to work the hot dog cart.
“I said, ‘Sure, I’ll push that joke around.’ And I sold every hot dog on there.”
He’s worked on bikes ever since.
“I like the shop because the service is great,” said Jabari Graves, a 28-year-old cyclist who frequents the shop. “Everyone is friendly, and they’re knowledgeable.”
Jabari started going there when it was still Mr. Goodbike because it was in his neighborhood.
“I saw it closed down, and I was bummed,” he said, “Then I saw the new paint and new look, and it brought me in.”
Goodbike is the same as its predecessor in many ways.
It still offers a $25 tuneup. It still carries Kona mountain bikes from Washington. The row of bright Electra cruisers still sits between the shop and 13th Street.
And business? Business has been good.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 7/31/2014 under the headline "Bike shop reopens with new name"]
Mike Hetrick, 47, owner of Goodbike, works on a vintage Fuji road bike on Wednesday. The shop at 425 NW 13th St. opened its doors with a new name and new management on the Fourth of July.
