Loose Nuts Cycles
This is a story about Loose Nuts Cycles—for the sake of the reader and the writer, Loose Nuts Cycles will be referred to as LNC.
Chris Tavel started a custom wheel-building service in Athens, GA in the mid-2000s. In 2010, Tavel moved to Atlanta and opened up the brick-and-mortar shop that is now a full-service bike shop called Loose Nuts Cycles. The shop is located at the intersection of Cherokee Ave SE and Glenwood Ave SE.
Over the past 12 years, Tavel and his trusted team of bicycle experts have been wheelin’ and dealin’ for customers in Grant Park, the greater Atlanta area, Georgia, all over the southeast, as far west as Califonia, and as far east as Amsterdam.
Last January, Tavel sold the shop to his trusted friends Kinzer Hewitt and David Stearman. According to Hewitt, the only thing that changed was the owners. It's still Loose Nuts Cycles, and the mission remains the same: fix bikes, have fun, and stay safe.
Hewitt (pictured on the right) started working for LNC in 2014. He worked at another bike shop in D.C. during COVID, where he met Stearman. Hewitt said, “We just want to get people's bikes up and rolling. We want to keep people on an alternate mode of transportation, no matter what that might be. We try to help every style of customer that we possibly can and keep everybody safe on the road.
Stearman (pictured on the left) started working at LNC when he bought it with Hewitt. Stearman said, “When the shop went up for sale, Kinzer called me and said, ‘Hey, this is a deal…I can’t do it alone… Are you in?”
It was not a hard decision for Stearman to make because of his experience with LNC. Stearman said, “I came down here, sat right where you're sitting right now. I thought this was the coolest shop I've ever been in. If I were to get another job in the bike industry, this is where I want to work.
LNC will help you feel like you belong to a community and help you have fun on bikes. The owners said there would never be another location. They value having continuity in their work. Hewitt said, “If I work on your bike, I'm gonna be here every day, and you're gonna be able to talk directly to the person that works on your bike.”
After talking to Kinzer and David, I better understood what a bike shop is. It’s one of the few industries that still meets you where you are. Bicycles are such a great alternative to automobiles. Granted, they are best in cities and communities that have accommodations such as bike lanes. Bike shops are the cornerstone of any thriving cycling community and offer a place for all types of riders. LNC is not a dealership; they have new bikes for sale, but they care far more about your current circumstance and how to make that work. So whether your bike is worth $100 (like mine) or $2000, Loose Nuts Cycles will provide you with the best service in town.
The End.
Special thanks to “The Photo Spot” for film processing.