Local cycling entrepreneur Joe Doebele has sold his bike shop. Joe Bike, which occupies an historic retail storefront on the corner of Southeast Lincoln and Cesar E Chavez Blvd on a major bike route in the Richmond Neighborhood, will retain its name but is now owned by Auburn and Schuyler (“sky-ler”) Harrison.
Doebele burst onto Portland’s cycling scene in 2008 when he moved into a building on SE Belmont and 20th to sell commuter and cargo bikes. He moved the shop to its current location in 2012. Doebele was poised to open a second location on SE Clinton in February 2020, just before the pandemic changed everything.
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Now Doebele is ready to move on and he’s happy to pass the shop to capable hands.
“It just felt like the perfect time to start fresh and follow a dream.”
— Auburn Harrison, Joe Bike co-owner
New owners Auburn and Schuyler Harrison are also new Portland residents. They say owning a bike shop is a dream come true. The pair spent the last 15 years in Reno, Nevada where they raised their three boys (ages 2, 7 and 9) and focused on careers.
“Most people thought we were just a little bit crazy to uproot our kids and our entire lives to move to another state and buy a business during a pandemic, but we felt like it was now or never,” Schuyler shared in a statement about the sale. Schuyler is a middle school teacher and University of Oregon graduate who grew up in Oakland and cut his teeth in the bike industry at Performance Bicycle in San Francisco.
Auburn is a former journalist who now runs a nonprofit fundraising and consulting business. “We kept thinking maybe we’d do it when the boys were older, but then COVID happened and things were messy and it just felt like the perfect time to start fresh and follow a dream,” she said.
Joe Bike’s new owners knew they wanted to own a bike business in Portland. “When we found Joe Bike, we knew this was the kind of shop we wanted to take on,” Schuyler said. “Joe has an incredible following and the shop is right on the greenway. We are so excited about the potential to
grow the company, build a tight-knit community feel in the neighborhood and get to know Portland more intimately.”
“This community has been nothing but welcoming and friendly in every single way. It’s beautiful and it’s alive, and we feel incredibly lucky and proud to be in Portland.”
Joe Bike specializes in high performance urban, gravel, and touring bikes from Soma, Kona, Surly, All-City, Marin, Salsa, and more.
Stay tuned for a big grand re-opening party this summer.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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