We talk about this a lot. Supporting your local bike shop. But what can your LBS do for you? Alter Cycles’ Steve Bretson recently penned a beautiful, heartfelt idea on their Instagram, related to our Supper Club Shred gallery that I really wanted to share here on the website. Click through to read Steve’s post…

Community is absolutely everything.

“Every day there are dozens of articles outlining the decline of the brick and mortar in the wake of internet retailers – written from perspectives that we all should basically just give up. We fundamentally disagree. Brick and mortars are no longer places to just buy stuff, agreed on that. Spaces and moments that allow diverse opinions to gather while feeling empowerment in something we agree on are what our society needs now more than ever. The challenge is how these “3rd Spaces” – an architectural term referring to gathering places between home and work, can support increasing overhead.”

“The current default bike shop answer to this seems to focus on consumption of either coffee or alcohol as a means to support where retail margins once did. While those prove to work financially, Coffee shop interiors are a sea of podcast listening wifi moochers only furthering their own polar views, and after embedding as a bartender over the winter to see how that feels, a constant scene of intoxicant consumption didn’t feel intellectually healthy enough to meet our standards of forming togetherness as humans who agree that bikes are great.”

“So then, how forward? We have a few ideas to share with the world that are pretty exciting that still allow us to focus on keeping it casual through community and customer service – come hang out with us on a Tuesday #supperclubshred or a Friday HAPP!EST HOUR and be a part of it as your beautiful self, supporting community that supports you. We love you.”

– Steve Bretson, Alter Cycles