And now: Sacramento's most unpretentious bike shop.

Whitworth Cycles

2311 S Street

Sacramento, CA 95816

(916) 206-4682

www.whitworthcycles.com

Open Tues-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm

In the interests of full disclosure, Whitworth Cycles is my friend Whit Brooks' bicycle shop. In the disinterest of presenting any  kind of unbiased journalistic integrity - this is an opinion-based blog, and not The New York Times after all - I can pretty much lavish any amount of one-sided and positive praise toward said friends' shop all I want (nee-ner, nee-ner, nee-ner!) That being said, even if this bike shop weren't the product of mi amigo's blood, sweat, and tig-welded tears, I'd still wholeheartedly recommend Whitworth Cycles to you for all your cycling needs. There. Honest enough for ya?

Doing its part to keep Midtown janky, Whitwrorh Cycles provides Sacramento's cycling community with a no-frills, bare-bones bicycle shopping experience. Situated within a small Midtown industrial complex that also houses an arts studio, a bodice maker and a mechanic's garage, Whitworth Cycles is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of operation; big on friendly and knowledgeable service, without any of the hyper bike-jock bullshit snobbery that plagues most bike shops around town. No Bike Mikes here!

Walk in through the front gate, past the corrugated steal doors and just take it all in. Complete bikes - new and used - line one wall, parts and accessories the wall opposite. On any given day, used and vintage bike parts are strewn about  the shop, here and there. There's no air of pretension here; pick up a part and ask the man how much it costs. He'll give you a good deal on almost anything for sale in the shop. Or just take a seat, crack-open a beer, listen to the jammin' tunes, and soak in the already well-worn  ambiance (Whit moved his shop into this space from a few doors down a couple of months ago).

 

Behind the counter is the work space where Whit and his assistant Jayna repair and/or construct bikes. Being a BBI certified bicycle fabricator, Whit's tool box arsenal also includes blowtorches and steel tubing, which he uses to expertly craft his namesake frames in Whitworth's distinct blood orange and yellow-striped signature colorway. Say you need to augment your bike by replacing your rear drop-outs with track ends as I did for my steed. No sweat, Clyde. Bring your bike in and tell Whit what you need. Beer's on me if you ride away disappointed. Oh, and by the way: you definitely won't. Huzzah!

So there it is in nutshell. If you're looking for a friendly, comfy bike shop with a great staff and plenty of odds-n-ends bicycle parts to sift through, Whitworth Cycles is the place you wanna be. Stop by, gawk at the steeds, get sized properly for a perfect bike fit or shoot the shit with any number of pedalheads that wander in (they're a friendly bunch, believe me). Shopping at Whitworth Cycles is the very essence of feeling good about buying local and doing business with an cool independent shop owner. 

Who knows? You might just make a new friend who happens to own his own bike shop in the process. Double-plus huzzah!