Hagan, Schmitz purchase, expand Einstein Cycles
Feb. 20—TRAVERSE CITY — Looking for a particular part brought David Hagan to an East Bay Township bicycle store.
A few months later he was the owner.
It was a smart decision.
Hagan and business partner Trevor Schmitz purchased Einstein Cycles and reopened the expanded bike shop Dec. 13, 2021.
A grand opening party and spring sale are scheduled for March 19.
Hagan formerly worked for Jason Lowetz at Einstein Cycles and the adjoining Bearclaw Bicycle Co. in 2018 before venturing out on his own. He lauchned Out and Back Mobile Bike Shop in the spring of 2021. Then a trip to Einstein for parts in the summer changed course for Hagan.
"I was looking for parts for the mobile bike shop," Hagan said of his visit to Einstein, 1990 U.S. 31 North.
"Shortly after that Jason got ahold of me and asked me if I wanted to buy it. It's a good business in a good location. Now I'm owning a bike shop, living the dream."
Lowetz opened Einstein Cycles in the summer of 2011 in the strip mall at the corner of Four Mile and U.S. 31 North. A few years later Lowetz launched his own line of titanium bicycles, the Bearclaw Bicycle Co., which grew and became "its own beast."
A few months ago, Lowetz moved Bearclaw and its production across the Mackinac Bridge to Moran in the Upper Peninsula. So selling Einstein Cycles to Hagan and Schmitz was smart for him as well.
"I just wanted to focus on Bearclaw and the bike shop sort of had taken a back seat the last few years," Lowetz said. "Dave and Trevor were the guys to bring it back to life."
Schmitz, who is maintaining his position as director of operations at Hagerty, said he got into mountain biking because of Hagan. "Dave was the one who got me into mountain biking when I moved up here (from Bloomfield Hills) nearly 10 years ago," he said.
Schmitz also helped Hagan turn a 1999 Ford Econoline into his mobile bike shop. The mobile bike shop sits in the parking lot on the corner of U.S. 31 and Four Mile Road.
"We kind of mothballed it for the winter," Schmitz said. "There's not a lot of demand, plus we bought and opened this."
"It is on the table, depending on staffing issues," Hagan said of the mobile shop, which may see limited weekday duty in the future.
Plus Hagan and Schmitz have been busy expanding the physical location of Einstein Cycles. In its most recent configuration under Lowetz, Einstein Cycles operated the northern-most suite. Bearclaw operated in the adjacent suite.
Hagan and Schmitz took down the wall separating the two and expanded in the sales space to both suites.
The duo added a dedicated space for bicycle repairs as well, right next to a framed photograph of Albert Einstein riding a bicycle.
The expanded physical space goes along with other ways Hagan and Schmitz want to grow Einstein Cycles. That includes launching the Junior Genius Trade-up Program scheduled to launch in the spring with the grand opening.
"We're really excited about the program," Schmitz said. "It will provide a lot of incentive to our customers with kids."
"It helps take some of that sting out of getting a new bike each time when you trade in your old bike," Hagan added.
Schmitz and Hagan said Einstein is in the process of expanding its clothing line.
The duo said drop-off and pick-up of fat bikes at the VASA Singletrack Trailhead is also offered during the winter.
"We're going to expand the rental fleet," Hagan said. "We have (electric) bikes, tandem, kid trailers and kids bikes. We have trail bikes and fat bikes."
Hagan said Einstein Cycles features Salsa, Yeti and Kona as its premium brands, but will also have "several new bike brands accommodating everyone's needs at every price point," according to a release announcing the store re-launch.
Einstein Cycles is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday summer hours are also planned. Einstein has one part-time employee with another two set to join the store in the warmer months.
