These 120 film photos are from the archives, when I visited @VeloCult in 2012

It pains me to post this. Every time we lose a great bike shop, the community suffers and the IBD suffers. It’s scary to witness it happening at such an alarming rate, especially since we really do need bike shops who give a damn. I can’t weigh in too much since I haven’t been to Velo Cult in a few years, but I can say that I wish I would have stopped by earlier this month, instead I figured I’d roll through when I was back in October, to spend some quality time there, rather than drop in, strapped for time.

Writing about this is hard, so maybe the best thing is to leave it with the official statement and a reminder that you, the consumer, won’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone. Support your local bike shop when you can and hopefully shops can adapt to this changing market and economy. To Sky and the team at Velo Cult, I wish you the best of luck with your online shop.

Read the full press-release below…

Velo Cult is closing their brick and mortar bike shop in order to focus on their successful line of branded products and soft goods. Opened in San Diego in 2006, Velo Cult moved to Portland in 2012, opening in a 10,000 square-foot Hollywood location that served as a bike shop, tavern and event space. Over the past six years Velo Cult has become an integral part of the thriving Portland bike scene, both as a shop and the go-to location for bike events of all kinds.

At the same time, Velo Cult has been successful at extending the brand though branded hand built frames, soft goods and other unique products. With the changing landscape of owning a multifaceted business in Portland, Velo Cult is opting to sidestep the difficulty of traditional brick and mortar in favor of focusing on online sales and brand building.