Long Beach Bike Shop gets things rolling–quickly!

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

The guy behind the Long Beach Bike Shop is a man of few words. His name is Carlos, and to make matters more complicated, he mumbles rapidly and has a thick accent. If I’m lucky, I catch about 50 percent of what he’s saying—but I don’t sweat it. The words I do pick out are the important ones—you know, like “tire,” “spoke,” “handlebar” and “frame.”

Four years ago, I was introduced to Carlos by a bike enthusiast named Greg Gilday, president of Long Beach’s Boneshaker Bicycle Club. (At the time, the only things I knew about riding a bike I had learned from repeated viewings of the ‘80s flick Rad.) My black Schwinn cruiser was in desperate need of an overhaul and, on advice from Gilday, I took it to Carlos. On that first trip I was only shopping for a new stem, but I became hit with such a tidal wave of nerdy bicycle emotion that I returned twice before the week was over. The next two visits reaped ape hanger bars (to replace the puny stock ones that came with the bike) and a new chain guard that took over nicely for the rusted-to-shit one I’d been using.

Now, a big reason why I’d bought the bike in the first place was to have an excuse to get my hands dirty. I am the city’s biggest Nancy Boy and fixing things with tools just isn’t my thing. But I figured a bike was a simple enough place to start. This theory was ditched once I discovered the Long Beach Bike Shop: Carlos and his small team of bicycle fixer-uppers are trustworthy mechanics who know more about two wheelers than I know about avoiding manual labor (which is a lot, by the way). I’ve never had to wait longer than a few hours for my repairs—great, because it gives me an excuse to kick around the East Village. And the prices are cheap enough that a guy like me doesn’t have to think twice to give the green light to the work that needs to be done.

I’ve learned a thing or two about fixing a bike since my initial visits, but even now, if a problem looks like it’s going to take more than 30 minutes to fix, I head downtown and let Carlos and Co. handle it. And I’m not the only one: unlike a car mechanic who requires appointments and schedules, people off the street bring their rides to Carlos for quick fixes like flat tires or loose seat posts and are rolling away within a short amount of time.

Though I’ve never actually bought a bicycle at Long Beach Bike Shop, every accessory on my black cruiser was purchased there. If the tough guy lowrider bike is your thing, I imagine you already know about this place because it’s a one-stop shop for massive sissy bars, banana seats, 140-spoke wheels and crunked-out rear view mirrors. The store also has a killer array of forks, pedals, grips, horns, baskets, fenders and valve caps, not to mention pre-made lowriders, mountain bikes, child’s rides and a slew of cruisers. If only they stocked some sweet number plates—I could dust off my old BMX and do knack-knacks and can-cans down Pine Avenue. That’d be epic, bro!

LONG BEACH BIKE SHOP 523 E BROADWAY | LONG BEACH 90802 | 562.436.7447

Tags: bike clubs, bike shop, bikes, Long Beach, nancy boy