OUR BEGINNINGS WERE HUMBLE
In order:
Matt fell in love with bikes.
Matt and Cass met, fell in love, got married.
Matt joined the U.S. Navy.
Matt called Cass from Iraq and said "We should buy the bike shop back home"
Cass said "Why not".
Matt and Cass moved back to Iowa.
Matt and Cass bought the bike shop in 2012.
Matt and Cass had a baby!
Matt and Cass bought the building the bike shop lives in.
Matt and Cass had ANOTHER baby!
A tornado came and all but knocked the building into rubble.
Matt and Cass cried.
Matt and Cass made the best of the situation.
Matt and Cass cried.
Matt and Cass worked hard and now have the nicest bike shop EVER.
Iowa got hit by a LAND HURRICANE (aka Derecho).
A FREAKING PANDEMIC? Really? Didn't have that on our bingo card!
Matt and Cass STILL have the best and nicest bikes shop EVER.
Matt fell in love with bikes.
Matt and Cass met, fell in love, got married.
Matt joined the U.S. Navy.
Matt called Cass from Iraq and said "We should buy the bike shop back home"
Cass said "Why not".
Matt and Cass moved back to Iowa.
Matt and Cass bought the bike shop in 2012.
Matt and Cass had a baby!
Matt and Cass bought the building the bike shop lives in.
Matt and Cass had ANOTHER baby!
A tornado came and all but knocked the building into rubble.
Matt and Cass cried.
Matt and Cass made the best of the situation.
Matt and Cass cried.
Matt and Cass worked hard and now have the nicest bike shop EVER.
Iowa got hit by a LAND HURRICANE (aka Derecho).
A FREAKING PANDEMIC? Really? Didn't have that on our bingo card!
Matt and Cass STILL have the best and nicest bikes shop EVER.
Matt |
Cass |
HISTORY OF MIKE'S BIKES/BTBC (GERSTANDT ERA)
Black Tire Bike Co., formerly Mike's Bikes, formerly Mike's Bikes and Fitness, formerly Mike's Schwinn Cyclery, was owned by....you guessed it, Mike! We took over in 2012, and changed the name to Mike's Bikes, dropping the 'and Fitness'. We kept the name and slowly transitioned the shop. When we finally were ready to change the name, it took us FOR-EV-ER to come up with one. We settled on Black Tire Bike Company. We've survived a tornado and from that we were able to make OUR bike shop, the one we wanted to create when we started. Now, when you walk in you feel an openness and an inviting environment.
Mike's Bikes |
BTBC: Pre-Tornado |
