Masset Cycles offers tune-ups, repairs and bike sales
A funny thing happened when Daniel Kolpatzik bought his first bicycle in Canada.
People kept asking “Are you a cyclist?” as if buying a bike was a political act.
“I was born and raised in Germany where cycling is just a normal thing that you do,” Kolpatzik says.
Kolpatzik grew up in Bonn, where most people own a car and a bike and regularly use either one for work or errands. Unlike in Canada, bikes commonly come with kickstands, fenders, bags and dynamo lights — things that make a bicycle a better daily rider.
Speaking at the brand-new bike shop he opened Aug. 20 in Masset, Kolpatzik said he would like to help make cycling a more regular thing here, too.
Masset Cycles is open four days a week for tune-ups, repairs and sales of new and used bikes, e-bikes included.
The shop is housed in a window-lit garage by his house at 2254 Dogwood Crescent. It’s currently open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
So far, Kolpatzik said people have mostly dropped in for $50 tune-ups. One customer, Derek Washington, drove his over in an excavator bucket.
But he is also speaking with people across Haida Gwaii about the types of new and used bikes they would like to ride.
With even low-cost new bikes going for around $800 or $900, Kolpatzik is gearing up to fix and sell used ones as well. That first steel-frame bike he bought for $60 in Canada lasted him a good 12 years.
“I had to do a little bit of work and take into the shop a couple times for a new wheel,” he said. “But it lasted.”
Starting in mid-October, Kolpatzik will take a mechanic’s course at Quadra Bike School with a 40-year bike mechanic named Smokey and two or three other students who all live on site fixing bikes for five weeks.
“I want to provide the best service I can,” he said.
Kolpatzik was inspired to leave his job to run a bike shop after meeting with Terry Wallace, who recently closed Masset Bikes after a seven-year run and offered to train up a new bike-shop owner.
“He’s been a great support,” Kolpatzik said. “He really wanted to see a bike shop continue in Masset.”
Contact Masset Cycles at 778-914-0022, [email protected], or send a message via the Masset Cycles Facebook page.