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Urbane Celebrates 25 Years!
- Posted on
- By Owen
- Posted in Anniversary, Urbane Cyclist, worker co-op
- 1
Take a trip down memory lane with us as we look back on 25 years at Urbane Cyclist!
First thing's first: THANK YOU! Without our loyal customers, 25 years wouldn't have been possible!
Back when we opened up in 1997 we were a bit of an outlier. Our focus was on durability and utility - not chasing fads or selling racing/mountain bikes in the downtown core. Since the start, we've been committed to commuters, couriers, cargo haulers, touring cyclists, and recumbent riders: people who cycle as their primary mode of transport. Bikes aren't just for fun or exercise, but of course we love to do that too! Since our inception, Urbane has always valued attention to detail in both in the products we sell (always vetted by our staff and employees) as well as with the top quality repair services we provide. Our underlying focus on quality and transparency is why our customers keep coming back!
It would be impossible to look back and not take a moment to voice our appreciation to the founder of our Worker Co-op, Eugene Yao (1946-2008). Eugene was a passionate environmentalist and cyclist and his choice to start a bike shop with a structure that focuses on Workers rights has allowed Urbane to continue to thrive even after his passing. This structure has provided consistent employment to it's members within our community for 25 years. Through our success we are also able to also support various movements in cycling advocacy and education, and are now getting to see the results of the seeds that have been sewn. Cycling worldwide is seeing a long awaited boom and Toronto's infrastructure is slowly but surely growing, leading to only more people on bikes. We are excited to see what the next generation of Toronto's cyclists has in store for us and we can't wait to help your cycling dreams become a reality!
If you want to stay in the loop during our year of celebrations follow us on social media for future updates on social events and rides!
We have some special 25th anniversary merch too you should check out!
-Owen
We sold that Phil spoke cutter probably 10 years ago but we got a Morizumi now! You should swing by the Tranzac on Sunday November 27th at 8pm - We are hosting a goldsprint event and it would be great to see some of the old staff from back in the day!
I worked at Urbane Cyclist right at the beginning. I even had the pleasure of travelling with Eugene to las vegas for the bike show. I was the guy that flooded the Toronto courier market with those coloured 36-hole velocity rims whu=ich we got at a steal at 8 bucks a rim. We also developet a relationship with Phil wood and bought a phil wood spoke cutter is it still around? I am glad shop is still around.