Bicycle World’s three-decade ride coming to an end

Owners IIene and Eric Marcos. Contributed photos

Eric Marcos works on a bicycle at the shop.

By ROBERT BRUM

When Eric and Ilene Marcos took over Bicycle World in Mount Kisco in 1993, the shop occupied a pair of Main Street storefronts across from the village movie theater. 

The road bikes they sold came equipped with manual shifters and rim brakes. Riders consulted maps and clipped paper cue sheets to their handlebars to follow their routes.

The shop, which moved north to a four-floor building the couple bought in 1998, now carries models with wireless electronic shifting and disc brakes. Pedal assist e-bikes are trending. Riders use computerized turn-by-turn navigation systems and sensors to track their speed and cadence. 

Plenty has changed in the bicycling world — and at Bicycle World itself — as the Marcos’ prepare to close the popular East Main Street shop by year’s end.

“When we first started there was no Amazon,” Ilene said one recent morning. “There were people going into stores and talking to shopkeepers and understanding products. You couldn’t research things on the internet. There weren’t the options that there are now. There was no tech in terms of computers, navigation, all of that. It was just a lot more simple.” 

Part of the reason for their longevity has been keeping pace with the market. “When we first started, mountain bikes were kind of a new thing,” she said. “Then came hybrids and then came gravel bikes. There’s all these revolutions of new styles of riding as tech improves.”

Reaction to the couple’s announcement to close after more than three decades has been “nothing short of overwhelming,” Ilene said. “I mean, just shocking amounts of reactions.” Customers eager to buy a new bike or get a fitting or tuneup for an older one have been clamoring to get on their schedule.

“We just didn’t realize the impact we had on a lot of people,” she said. “We’re just doing what we always do. I think when you’re just doing stuff and you’re in it, you don’t step back and look at the larger picture.” 

The 6,816-square-foot building is on the market and the inventory and fixtures are being sold off until Dec. 31, as the owners gear up for retirement.

The Northern Westchester couple, now empty-nesters in their 60s, knew it was time to apply the brakes.

“There’s this kind of magic time where nobody is really counting on us the way we’re used to being relied on, and we are still young enough and healthy enough to go ride our bikes and hike and travel,” she said.

Ilene added, “We have had a really excellent year and that’s another reason. We kind of want to go out while we feel good about things. When we’re feeling good about what we do. Not because we have to, because we choose to, and that’s a big difference for us.”

As they settle into their private lives, some traditions will come to an end. This will be the last year Eric supplies mechanical support for the Westchester Cycle Club’s events, including the Golden Apple/Dirty Apple, which takes place Oct. 12 at Lewisboro Town Park. 

Longtime cycle club member and Golden Apple chair, Judi Tota, said the shop’s closing was like “losing a cornerstone of our cycling community.”

Tota said that Eric and Ilene ran Bicycle World “with a rare combination of expertise, warmth, and passion,” and lauded the shop’s large inventory.

Mayor J. Michael Cindrich said the shop’s closing was a major loss for the village.

“Bicycle World is a destination location that attracts shoppers from a large geographic area. … Replacing what the Marcos’ have built, a legacy business with a reputation of quality service, will be difficult,”  Cindrich said.

Loretta Brooks and Beth Vetare Civitello, co-executive directors of the Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce, said Ilene, Eric, and their staff had been “integral to the village” and called the couple “community-minded, generous human beings.”

As for the future of their building, they said, “We hope that a buyer will come along and recognize the value of an established business, as well as the economic vibrancy of Mount Kisco.”

Robert Brum is a freelance journalist who writes about the Hudson Valley. Contact him and read his work at robertbrum.com.