The righteous work of rescuing bicycles

SANDPOINT — Righteous work is how some might view it.

Bonner County Bicycles’ owners, Tim Piehl, Dan Shook, and Dave Reisenauer, are working hard to keep the landfills a little less cluttered with metal and rubber.

Just bring them your tired bicycle that’s in poor shape, lying on its side, huddled in the mass of stuff that is your garage, hungry for attention, and they will bring it back to life, with affordability in mind.

It’s been six years since Bonner County Bicycles opened. The back room is now chockful of bicycles ranging from restored bikes from the 1960s to brand new fancy bikes — Kona, Surly, and Sun are some of the brands they carry.

“We used to get our bikes from yard sales, auctions, and the metal pile at the dump,” Piehl said, “but these days people bring them in and we buy them or trade them up.”

Piehl said their bread-and-butter is the $250 bike “that we have fixed up and made more comfortable and functional.

“That’s the cool thing about BCB; we give a second, third, fourth life to bikes that would otherwise be discarded, crushed for metal scrap and sent to China. We try hard not to throw things away, repurposing and reusing is something we try hard to do, though there is a point where that rear wheel needs to be a dream catcher or part of a fence,” said the Sandpoint native.

“It’s a fun shop, and it’s good for the community, as well, said Dave Reisenauer, another owner.

“The really cool thing about the shop is no one has to make a living out of it. Dan and I are retired (mostly) and Tim is a contractor. I think that’s what distinguishes it from most other bike shops,” Reisenauer said, “and it’s a pretty laid-back attitude in the shop,” he added.

Reisenauer is the former owner of The Flower Farm on Colburn-Culver, and has lived locally off and on during the past 40 years. Formerly, Reisenauer worked at The Bike Gallery in Portland, “so he’s got that big, fancy bike shop experience that is a nice balance with Dan’s ‘art brain.’” Piehl said.

The shop is open year round, Piehl said, though both Shook and Reisenauer both leave for a while in the winter. When here, Shook builds up inventory all winter long.

There is more foot traffic in the shop during the off seasons now that fat biking opportunities have been established by the Pend Oreille Pedalers at Pine Street Woods, Piehl said.

“We don’t have any fat bikes in stock, but we can get them. Fat biking is awesome for the shoulder seasons. When the snow is not so good on the mountain, and you can’t ride your road or mountain bike, it’s pretty bad ass to run up to Pine Street Woods for an hour and hit the groomers,” Piehl said.

Free bikes are often available at the rack in front of the shop. Some still need repairs to get them running, “but sometimes you can find a gem that’s ready to ride away,” Piehl said.

The bike rack brings in lots of foot traffic. “We do have some free bikes set aside for the kids that need them, but if you’re on your fourth DUI and looking for a ‘nice’ free bike, don’t ask me,” Piehl said.

Piehl does like to see people get on higher end mountain bikes.

“People tell me all the time that the bike I sold them has literally changed their life. For me and my family and friends, mountain biking is a huge part of life, and $4,000 these days certainly isn’t the most expensive bike out there. I have a used 2019 Santa Cruz Bronson for sale for $5,000 right now,” he said.

Retired Sandpoint High School art teacher and father of the spirited musicians, The Shook Twins, Shook repairs and renovates bikes such as the two very unique bicycles that were donated by the wife of a mechanical engineer, Robert Phillips, who created bicycles for Olympian training in Guatemala.

Shook knows a lot about restoring bicycles and he’ll even do paint jobs on bikes, but it’s a lot of work because “you have to take the bike apart.” He did say that if your bike has some rust, get some very fine steel wool and go over it with vinegar and it will go away. Chrome-plated steel gets rusty when it’s left outside in the rain..

Recently, the shop repaired two children’s large tricycles originally made by the Amish, said Dick Ross, who worked at Sandpoint Middle School teaching shop. He was wearing a t-shirt — Retired Teacher: Every Child Left Behind. He works part-time at BCB and is known for his self-effacing humor. “Do not leave your bike outside,” he advised.

BCB is located at 521 N. Fourth Ave., behind the Horizon Credit Union. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 208-597-5339.

Susan Drinkard writes features for the Daily Bee. She can be reached at susanadiana@icloud.com.