Owner of Marblehead Cycle Dan Shuman has been in the biking business since he was 13. What started out as going around and fixing people’s bikes has turned into owning a bike business for 23 years.
As the owner of the now-closed Salem Cycle since 2000, Shuman bought Marblehead Cycle, located at 25 Bessom St., almost exactly 20 years later from the same person who sold him the Salem business.
Opening Marblehead Cycle during the beginning of the pandemic turned out to be great for Shuman’s business.
“The bike business really took off because everybody was supposed to get outside,” Shuman said.
With fewer people working and everyone being encouraged to get outside, a lot of people bought new bikes, he said.
Shuman himself has had a love for bikes his entire life. At 13, he began working for “The Bike Doctor,” a man who made house calls for fixing bikes.
“The summer after he went away to get married and said, ‘here’s the keys to my van,’ I was 14, I couldn’t drive but I rode my bike to people’s houses and fixed them there if I could,” Shuman said.
After college, he was looking around the country for a place to open his own bike shop when the owner of Salem Cycle sold the business to him. He was 25.
Shuman is still friends with the original owner of Salem and Marblehead Cycle, he said.
His favorite thing about owning a business is the people and the joy of talking to them about bikes. Shuman rides regularly, as do all of his employees.
At Marblehead Cycle, you can find everything bike-related. From electric-assisted bikes to helmets to ride trackers from the well-known brand Garmin, the store is filled with it all.
The shop also offers bike repair services. Shuman said with spring picking up and the weather getting warmer, Marblehead Cycle is booming right now.