Einstein Cycles Returns Bike Shop to Cadillac

The Cadillac cycling community took a hit in January when their local bike shop closed. Saturday, they celebrated a new shop opening in its place.

Mclain Cycle and Fitness was the only option for cyclists in Cadillac for decades, the original owners sold the franchise to Specialized, a global bike brand, about two years ago. The new out-of-town owners failed to click with the community and the store closed in January.

“What we were doing here in town just didn’t quite click unfortunately,” said Allan Garrow, old manager of Mclain Cycle and now the new Einstein Cycles shop.

Saturday, they celebrated a grand opening of a new bike shop, with many familiar faces.

“You don’t realize what you mean to the community until it’s taken away,” said Garrow.

So when it closed for good in January, the cycling community in the area was left without a bike shop, or at least one within an hour away.

“They have multiple races here,” said Trevor Schmitz, co-owner of Einstein Cycles, “They have a great White Pine Trail so cycling is a big deal in the community.”

The community began clamoring for a replacement. That’s when Traverse City’s Einstein Cycles stepped in. Already looking to expand, this opportunity was perfect. This offered a market in need and an experienced staff currently out of work.

“They asked if they open it here in Cadillac, would we run it? It took some talking and we said yeah yeah it’s exactly what the town needed,” said Garrow.

“Once we are able to secure them, we knew it was a go,” said Schmitz.

Cycling has taken off through the pandemic as more people found reasons to enjoy the outdoors. and Cadillac’s location and trail system bring cyclists from all over.

“We’re going to have a place to end up at because all of us bikers are geeks. We go to the bike shop whichever the bike shop is in town, people got to go to it,” said Garrow, “So our riders are very passionate and it’s everyone from racers to just people who just ride up and down the White Pine Trail.”

It’s no joke that they needed to get open by April 1st.

“This is the time people are bringing their bikes in for tuneups or they’re getting ready for the season,” said Schmitz, “So we really needed to be open by now.”

The sales began right away as the place was full of bike fans excited to have a shop back and have a name they trust with their expensive passion.

“We feel like we’re able to give the city of Cadillac back its bike shop,” said Garrow, “This is not my shop, it belongs to the city.”