Owners of a major bike shop in downtown Portland are throwing in the towel. West End Bikes has announced a closing sale after 14 years in business. The shop opened with a bang in 2011 on the corner of SW Harvey Milk and 11th (just one block south of Burnside). Co-owners Mark Ontiveros and Mike France stocked the “palatial” showroom with high-end bikes and had the backing of Specialized Bicycles, one of the largest brands in the industry.
West End offered a wide selection of bikes, apparel, and parts; but was known for its selection of high-end road bikes from brands like Wilier, Pinarello, and locally-based Sage Cycles. Ontiveros, who worked as head apparel buyer at River City Bicycles from 1995 until he left to team up with France, filled the shop with top clothing brands like Outlier, Assos, and Velocio.
In 2022, the shop moved to a smaller location on SW Washington Street when the historic building it was located in underwent major renovations. Around that same time, original co-owner Ontiveros sold his shares in the business (he’s now working at Lakeside Bicycles in Lake Oswego) and France brought in another co-owner.
In a post on Instagram, West End wrote, “After 14 years of following our passion, the time has come to slow the roll.” France added in a comment that he’s been planning to retire this year for a while.
The closure of West End Bikes leaves a vast swath of the central city without a major bike shop. The Trek Portland store moved from SW 10th and Salmon to the Nob Hill/Slabtown neighborhood last year. Once West End is gone, there will be a bike shop desert across downtown for 1.7 miles between NW Raleigh and 20th all the way to the Portland State University Bike Hub at SW Harrison and 6th.
I’ve asked West End Bikes owners if they’d like to share a statement about the closure and will update this post when I hear back.
The shop is having a closing sale with discounts on all bikes and products. More info here.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
When I worked downtown it was often most convenient to have any work done at a downtown shop (usually Bike Gallery). Drop it off in the AM, pick it up after work. Haven’t checked, does anybody work downtown anymore? Seems like this is an opportunity for a repair-focused bike shop, but maybe that’s not where the money is?
I recently had some weekdays off and spent a couple wandering around downtown & the rest of the central city. It was a little busier than a couple years ago, but nowhere near as crowded as pre-COVID.
Repair most def IS where the money is, to the extent that there’s money in the retail bike biz. Meanwhile, selling new bikes is fraught with peril for any independent shop.
Fewer downtown commuters = fewer downtown repairs.
I’m also suspicious that e-bikes are getting repaired rather than replaced. There’s a planned obsolescence problem in the electric bike industry that the lobbyists and activists are eager to greenwash.
As an ebike owner I wholeheartedly agree. I had to really shop around to get an ebike that would be repairable. Too many proprietary parts and stuff that needs apps to work.
The added complexity of ebikes would be a great reason to buy local from a shop that services what they sell. There are at least seven to choose from.
From my experience that hasn’t been the case. I’ve had ebikes for about 8+ years, put thousands of miles on them and haven’t had any issues with the electronics other than having to buy a new charger once (was able to buy a generic charger too)
Now all of these were in the $800-$4k range though so maybe the higher end ones get more proprietary with planned obsolescence?
I’ve taken them to bike shops a few times for things all not related to the electronics. I would take them more actually but find the repair places around me booked often and the prices sometimes feel very high.
You may not be the average user. I’ve had conversations with other people about repairs on their bikes and the need for an ebike friendly shop. On my bike I haven’t had a lot of repair issues. Fortunately I noticed that my rear axle has a 17 mm nut so now I carry that wrench with my other tools. Something like that could really stymie a roadside repair.
I’m capable of more repairs than I actually do. If I put a labor value on my shop time I can hardly afford to work on my own bikes. A shop that can turn around a repair on a given day is pretty valuable!
I can see that being the case in a lot of US cities, particularly when there are so many brands, so many proprietary parts, and specific skills/knowledge for each required for repair. But in places like NY, where there are a vast number of exclusive e-bike repair shops who cater to delivery workers (who frequently own their own bikes and have limited funds), it’s clear that repairs are paramount. Despite the disposable battery problem and cheap Chinese brands flooding the market, most people tend to keep and repair what they have.
Exactly this. Why I will never own an e-bike.
I’d rather have crappy knees and a bike I can repair at home.
PSU Bike Hub repair services are open to the general public, so that’s perhaps an option
Actually the “bike repair / retail desert” is even larger than Jonathan reported, as PSUs shop has more limited weekday hours AND no hours on the weekends (and holidays). [This could change if PSU decides to react to the need.]
I work downtown and I used West End Bikes. This loss will definitely be felt for me and and my coworkers.
It was a tough break when they lost their first retail space. It had great natural light and much better foot traffic, being located close to Powell’s Bookstore, Patagonia, and other retail stores. They made the best of the Washington St. location but it wasn’t the same.
Bummer. They were really helpful the couple times I went in.
There is a rental shop on 3rd and Davis, Cycle Portland, that will do repairs. They are only open March – October though.
Nice article but I finished it wanting more context: Are bike shops closing downtown at a higher rate than other retail businesses? And are bike shops outside of downtown more plentiful now, indicating that downtown is NOT a good place for bike shops but other places are? Maybe fodder for a future follow-up article.
I imagine like many Portland businesses they are moving to the suburbs….more customers, better business climate, less vandalism and theft concerns….etc. The biggest bike retailer in Portland was REI…they are now gone as well. I just had to drive to Clackamas REI to pick up my new bike. Last time I bought a bike, I took a rental scooter to the Pearl REI and rode it home. This time I burned fossil fuel.
You could have taken any number of TriMet routes to Clackamas, that’s how I got out there. I presume if you live in scootering distance of the old Pearl location, it would be trivial to ride the MAX Green Line.
Also that REI probably closed due to union busting and an insufficient space more than theft.
Theft was a big factor, and the landlord wasn’t willing to make improvements.
PCEF taking 1% off the top of all sales wasn’t helping either. When you only have one store left in the City of Portland, it’s an easy decision.
Short of NYC style roll-down apocalypse doors I don’t think anything the landlord could have done would have helped much– and installing those are a tall order for commercial storefronts designed back in the free-wheeling, money-flowing, future’s-so-bright 2000s.
The last straw seems to have been when thieves drove a car through the entrance facade while the store was closed for their “Opt Outside” Black Friday event. The loot? Bikes, go figure.
“Also that REI probably closed due to union busting and an insufficient space more than theft.”
Or the PCEF tax, or permitting issues, or, most likely, all of it. So many reasons to leave Portland, sadly.
I used to ride Max all the time…to work and take visitors downtown….but since some very bad experiences personally (plus others having even worse experiences) I haven’t taken public transit in Portland in over 3 years. Not planning on starting either…it’s just not worth it, especially for a single woman. That’s my lived experience.
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/knife-attack-max-station-portland/283-29d26fa3-efb1-4acf-b65b-1823fb073367
There just isn’t a strong commuter presence downtown anymore, and that has been crippling to shops. Not to mention there is a sort of “hangover” from the pandemic where all those folks who wanted to purchase bikes (whether thats an entry level bike or a dream bike) did, due to extra time and income not being spent on social activities, so sales have been abysmal, especially in that higher end market. If people move back downtown, maybe a sole-repair focused place could survive? But based on the cost of rent for a space in the downtown area makes that much more difficult. WEB has struggled with even getting people in the door downtown just browsing, let alone keeping a full service schedule. The people just aren’t around like they used to be, and if a shop can’t keep their repair side busy, they can’t survive.
What’s especially disappointing about work-from-home is that its acolytes will swear up and down that their insistence on never setting foot in an office again doesn’t have a huge and devastating ripple effect on the community. We’re again and again asked to ignore our lying eyes and pretend that there’s something larger afoot, some grand unifying theory like “late stage capitalism”. Weridly enough, capitalism seems to be alive and well just about every other city I visit… but not downtown Portland, oh no.
Jeff, don’t visit foreign cities where people generally don’t have spare rooms in their homes/apartments to convert to offices. Those cities feel even more alive. People are up and out early, out late, taking transit, cafes and shops are open before 3pm and later than 9pm, etc. Feels incredible after the last 5 years here in Portland.
I never even went inside WEB, but I still miss Django’s Records, the previous business at that location
thanks for that memory…spending hours flipping through used records at Django’s, circa 1979. Oye.
Django’s and Ozone were very crucial spots for me in high school in the early 90s, too. 2nd Ave is still around, which was and still is, my favorite.
Sad to hear this. Not easy to run a small business in modern day Portland.
I live walking distance from the shop but never could remember that they existed and always forgot to try and shop there. Everything was pretty picked over by the time I stopped by on Sunday afternoon and I kinda got the sense that the shop was a tad bit biased towards MAMIL crowd based on what I saw remaining in the store.
>MAMIL crowd
Cool body shaming / ageism.
I guess BikePortland thinks that’s just fine as long as it “hurts the right people”
Hi Stephen. I don’t think saying “Middle Aged Man in Lycra” is the type of insult I need to moderate against. Just like the term “OK, boomer” didn’t bother me even when folks also said it was ageist and mean.
Perhaps because these terms weren’t directed at you? Don’t get me wrong — I dislike bikewear as much as the next person (especially those shoes!), but I still think a slur is a slur.
(A general reply – not directed at you, Jonathan)
Ughh! Another prime example of why cycling and cyclists are fading in Portland. God forbid that some people of age and means enjoy riding something expensive (without a bell, and three lights, and yards of reflective tape, and thick grippy tires, and…) while wearing gear that makes the riding experience more comfortable!
When are we going to get our act together and act as one? There is no need to denigrate the weekend roadies, the department store MTB riders struggling to survive, the bakfiets moms, the fixie guys, or the cruiser crowd. Bikes, like people, come in all shapes, sizes, and strata. Ultimately, don’t we all want safety and some sense of peace when we pedal our steeds? Why are we so hung up on gatekeeping and purity? I’m not sure that I have ever heard car people say, “More lanes, better streets, and pothole repair…but not for trucks or SUVs! Those guys are d-bags!!!”.
As long as cycling remains a fractured cool kids club, then we are not going to make much progress. Celebrate and support those that ride bikes no matter what or how they ride!
Well put. Thank you
I’m a baby boomer and it’s hard not to feel attacked. Is this really the attitude of this blog, to other and denigrate? It’s disappointing to say the least.
I never felt like a boomer but then I looked at the age distribution and found out I’m right in the middle. Also my sister is named Karen. At some point you have to take the joke, or make it yourself, and move on.
Who do you think knows the most lawyer jokes?
Thank you! I’m also in the age demographic and honestly it doesn’t bother me, we’re all different ages but we’re all aging at the same rate. People need to get over being so easily offended, the world’s a nasty place these days and trolls of all stripes live for owning the libs or anyone else with a thin skin, and way worse slurs can be found in the wild since DEI died, don’t give them a reason to make you a target. IMO, you’d be better off putting that energy towards saving democracy right now, that’s way more important; but you’re gonna need a thicker skin for that also.
I work downtown and either use the PSU bike hub or River City, depending on the nature of the repairs/needs. Neither is that far, particularly for anyone working near pioneer square. It may be 1.7 miles between the nearest two downtown shops, but it’s less than a mile to the nearest one. I would assume a market gap will grow if more people are pedaling downtown in the future.
JR: yes those distances are “near by” when you have the ability (or time) to travel there, but if the bike has a catastrophic fail / repair need it can be too far to drag a bike. Like when my seat post saddle bracket weld failed on my bakfiets…too big for Trimet’s rack but I was able to push it to a (then near by) shop to get a new seat post.
[Yes, transit – for now – is way better than it used to be as a ‘safety net’ for limping to a shop for a bike repair, I am old enough to remember when bus operators would stop you from entering a bus with a bike wheel or using the bike rack without a ‘bike rack certification’ ID.]
Ari Bikes Bentonville is expected to open this summer in Bentonville, Arkansas.