Cedar Park: Bike Shop Helps the Neighborhood

Sitting right on top of the historic Dock Street Brewery, inside of an old abandoned firehouse, is a bike shop. Firehouse Bicycles, located on 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue, has come a long way since opening its doors.

“It’s a different feel from a new shop, has an old kind of feel,” said Monica Pasquinelli, owner of Firehouse Bicycles. “We have been open 12 years now and we were built out of nothing.”

Firehouse Bicycles sells everything bike related from used and new bike parts and accessories to a range of bicycle selections. The shop also has a list of services that are available including wheel building and a basic tune-up.

“The stuff we have in our shop sometimes you can’t find in others, it sets us apart,” Pasquinelli said. “Our labor prices are comparable as well.”

Not only does Firehouse Bicycles offer the neighborhood quality bikes and services, but its mechanics and workers running actually enjoy doing the job.

“We’re all a group of friends and we get to run the shop together. We work in a way everybody can fulfill their other dreams and have lives outside of the shop by having flexible schedules,” Pasquinelli said.

Pasquinelli and his team obtain the store’s merchandise by traveling out of state to flea markets and other bike shops.  In some instances they have hired people to do the traveling and buying for them.

Firehouse considers itself to be the bike outlet for the neighborhood and even some surrounding communities.

“For this neighborhood for sure we are their outlet, I hope so at least. I know we get a lot of customers and revenue from the Germantown neighborhood,” Pasquinelli said.

Almost a year ago Pasquinelli along with co-owner Sam Davis, opened their second shop, Wolf Cycles. Located on 43rd Street and Lancaster Avenue, Wolf Cycles has been a bicycle shop since 1932 and was previously named Wolff Cycle. The new shop offers the same merchandise and services but now provides a piece of history to its customers.

For the upcoming holiday customers can visit Firehouse Bicycles and Wolf Cycles for the Halloween Bicycle Sale, to receive at least 10 percent off new and used parts. The sale will run from Saturday, Oct. 27 to Saturday, Nov. 3 during the hours of 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.