Bicycles: Synonymous with summertime and The Jersey Shore!
The 2022 Shore Award for “Best Bike Shop” went to the Belmar Bike Shop!
I stopped down to talk to the crew there to see why The Rat Rock Nation honored them this year… and what I found was a local business that is owned by a “bike guy” and staffed by people who dig the self-powered two wheels.
There’s been a bicycle shop on the corner of Main Street and 15th Avenue for decades… but only in the past 9 years have the current crew been behind it’s success. The owner takes pride in being the local, friendly bike mechanic who turns around fixes in a speedy manner and sells quality rides.
It’s funny how you can tell when a local business is really into what they do. Every now and then, you’ll see a post on the Belmar Bike Shop Insta or Facebook page saying, “Too nice a day out, see you on the ride today!”.
It’s like the ski bum on a powder day: too nice not to ride.
The pandemic thew a lot at the local bike shops, as it turns out. First, everyone realized that they wanted to ride a bike so the bike sales blew up. Then, when the bike shortages hit… everyone decided they’d get their current dusty two wheels fixed up. Turn around times blew through the roof; but the local cycling community realized that the Belmar Bike Shop didn’t suffer those delays. They got the job done and became known for speedy service.
These days, there’s good air in the Belmar Bike Shop. Bicycle supply is bouncing back from all the supply chain issues so the choice of mountain bikes, beach cruisers and road bikes is getting better as you can see in the pictures. And they’ve got a staff of bike mechanics who still get the bike repairs done faster than you can say, “hey let’s ride to the ice cream shop for a cone”.
Because bikes and The Jersey Shore are really meant for each other!
The people have spoken: The 2022 Shore Award for “Best Bike Shop” went to the Belmar Bike Shop.
