Weekends 10-6pm

773-281-0444

If you are interested in purchasing a bicycle, or other items, please give us a call to check that we have what you're looking for.

This bicycle season has been harder for us to keep all items in stock with more people cycling.

Thank you for your continued business! We really appreciate it!

Shop History

Cycle Smithy was founded in 1973. It's first address was 2113 N Clark St. Our first business model was renting refurbished bikes that had been found in the trash. I also for a short time built frames, sleeping in the shop for the first year until someone was kind enough to let me move in with her.

As time passed, I went from a cash only business to accepted checks and charges, which was a huge step for me at the time and eventually was allowed a dealship for several brands of bikes. Early customers may recall finding the shop closed on busy Saturdays with a note giving an excuse of a death in the family - chances were I was probably out playing bicycle polo. Eventually I gave up frame building because I found I could make as much profit selling one mid-range bike as it took two weeks to craft one custom hand built bike. That's right, I sold out.

In 1978, the owner of Park West Schwinn, a shop up the street from me, got tired of the game and was looking for a sublet to get out of his lease. I took him up on his offer and moved in that Fall. Going from 600 sq. feet to 4,000 sq. feet insured a substantial increase in rent. To accommodate the seasonality of the bike business, I opened a slot car track with an ad hoc hobby shop. This operation was on the lower level. The footprint of the track was 50'x20', and was a bit tight as the space in the room was 80'x25'. A varied crew of adult delinquents often kept the track busy up until 2 or 3 in the morning.

Eventually, the bike industry reinvented itself, and I sold the track on Christmas Day of 1983. The advent of the then new mountain bike and triathlons secured the shop's future.