CycWard, a new full-service bike repair and sales shop, has taken up residence in a repurposed Youngstown church across from Wick Park. The shop is the joint effort of three friends, all successful local businessmen who are also lifelong biking enthusiasts. The Wick Park Historic District is slowly revitalizing, and CycWard is a deliberate part of this effort.
Joe Parent, owner of A Parent Trucking Co., joined a group bicycle ride organized by Kelan Bilal, owner and proprietor of Excalibur Barber. Both men were looking for enjoyable exercise options and interaction with other people. “Cycling just happened to be that thing,” Bilal says.
A community focused on biking and business grew from this juncture.
“Kelan had a great vision for a community and things we can do to improve on Youngstown,” Parent says. “And one of the common things we really wanted was to own a bike shop.”
CycWard is a full-service bike shop. Services include repairs, refurbishments, and sales of biking apparel and bicycles, both new and used. Customers can bring in old bikes for trade-ins, and financing is available for the more expensive items. It is not a brand-specific shop and carries items from across the industry.
In addition to the shop, the owners are constructing a coffee bar in the church where bikers can relax after a ride or people can come in to chat.
Parent bought the former Richard Brown Memorial Methodist Church in 2021 to keep the Youngstown property in local hands. “I bought the church because it was for sale,” he said. The landmark church, located at 1205 Elm St., was built between 1903 and 1905 in memory of Youngstown industrialist Richard Brown. When the idea for a bike shop surfaced, he already had the keys to the building.
For professional advice, Parent and Bilal teamed up with Tim Knight, co-owner of Trail Side Bicycle Co., who has been operating bike shops in the Youngstown area for years. “Believe it or not, but Tim has been in my life for a very long time. He has sold me every piece of biking equipment that I own to this day,” Bilal says.
Parent is also a fan of Knight’s business and biking acumen. He has spent considerable time across the years swinging into one of Knight’s bike shops to ask advice and just to say hi. “We had a couple of people that Kelan and I could have approached for a partner,” Parent says, “but we never did because Tim checked all the boxes.”
This juncture between business, community, and friendship is what CycWard best represents. All believe in Youngstown and the restorative power of bringing people together.
“Tim, he knows what he is doing here,” Bilal says. “When you build a relationship between individuals you become a superpower when you come together because everything just meshes in the correct way.”
“Before we knew what gears were, our legs played the part all the way across all the town,” Bilal says with the colorful language he tends to employ in everyday conversation. “Freedom,” Parent says simply, explaining the urge to ride.
“Yeah, we remember that freeing experience,” Bilal says, “and we were all bike mechanics. As long as [you had] vice grips and a flathead screwdriver, you could fix anything on a bike. As long as you had those two tools and your bike, you were good.”
“Because we are not jumping ramps and curbs anymore on our 20-inch BMX bikes as adults,” Kelan saw this as an opportunity to bring the community together. “Road biking is more the adult version of the child’s sport,” Parent says. “And for me it was the continuation of playing a sport and getting my exercise and not hating exercise.”
But exercise is only part of the equation. The three friends, now business partners, also saw the need for a community rallying point. They wanted to network with other business leaders themselves, and to introduce business leaders to each other.
“That’s how CycWard Bike Club was born, just getting people together for networking and just for the community,” Bilal says. “Not just of people, but also of other local business owners. We just want to rub elbows with people.”
CycWard has organized a bike club for anyone who is interested in joining a cycling community. Club rides take place on Saturdays and Sundays, May through October. Saturday rides are longer, more rigorous rides geared toward experienced bikers. Sundays include “Bike and Brunch Rides,” what Bilal calls “a slow-jam at a country rolling speed” (which translates to about nine to 20 miles-an-hour) “and nobody gets left behind.” In an effort to support other local businesses, Sunday riders will stop at local eateries for brunch. Anyone is welcome to join. Club membership is free and includes free biking safety classes (in order to participate).
Customers interested in the shop or the club can find CycWard on Facebook while they construct their website or during business hours on Elm Street. “We will work with people’s budgets,” says Knight.
“We’re the best bike shop around,” Knight adds.
CycWard Bike Shop
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