Yorks Take the Wheel at Bar Harbor Bike Shop, Blending Legacy with New Energy
Bar Harbor Bike Shop Gears Up for Summer with Some Changes and Memorial Day Sale
BAR HARBOR—When Jill and Peter York bought the Bar Harbor Bike Shop from the Minutolo brothers two years ago, they were buying a business, yes, but they were also inheriting a community and a legacy that’s five decades old.
The College of the Atlantic purchased the buildings at 141 Cottage Street, but the Yorks bought the business, which provides bikes and gear to locals and visitors.
There are a lot of cool places to bike.
As Acadia National Park explains, “Acadia provides different opportunities for bicycling on carriage roads, bike paths, gravel roads, and paved roads. There are various options based on experience, elevation change, type of bicycle, and destination.”
While they are both business people, Peter is a cyclist and triathlete who wants to keep the legacy of community alive at the bicycle shop, which offers service, sales, and rentals. And while they are new to the business, heading into their second season, Peter’s family has been here for generations. Now that he retired from banking, he’s come back year-round to some of those roots. Jill’s spent her time teaching and also kayaking and cycling.
Every summer, their boys would be involved in sports on the island. Every summer, the Yorks would stop by and talk to the Minutolos.
In a March 2024 story for the Mount Desert Islander, Annalise Sheppard wrote about how Peter would visit the bike shop.
“Joe used to joke with me, asking me ‘when are you gonna buy the bike store?’ and I’d say, ‘Well, when I retire, I’ll come work for you,’” she wrote.
At the time, Peter told Shepard that he wanted to “bring the joy and experience of cycling to as many people as they can, while continuing to support the overall community.”
Just this weekend, the shop participated in Healthy Kids Day at the MDI YMCA. It also celebrates “new bike day” when people purchase bikes, posting images of the new owners on the shop’s social media.
There are upgrades going on as well. Last month the town’s design review board approved an exterior storage system/fence that will be along the length bordering the 37 Eden Street property. It will mostly be obscured by the currently existing fence so that it won’t be visible from Cottage Street and partially in view from people on Eden Street. The structure will hold bicycles and there will be an attached awning to protect those bikes from the elements.
The Bar Harbor Bike Shop will continue to offer a wide variety of bikes for customers to rent during the peak season, as well as the off season. After acquiring the bike shop last year, the Yorks started updating their rental fleet last fall with new basic pedal bikes, E-bikes, and gravel bikes based on the demand of their first season as new owners.
Having approximately 100 bikes going out daily during the summer and fall, bikes need to be replaced every three to five years so that customers have a good, quality experience riding in Acadia and around the island, Jill said.
This means that the bike shop will be having a Memorial Day Weekend Sale from May 23 through the 26 so that the Yorks can sell bikes that were formerly part of the rental fleet.
“It’s a great way for customers to get well-maintained bikes at discounted prices,” Jill said.
Selected bikes and E-bikes will be up to 20% off the price they are now listed for, and they will also be having huge markdowns on apparel, shoes, and accessories.
“Cycling is much more than just a mode of transport. It is a significant global industry, with the size of the international bicycle market forecast to be over 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2025,” according to Statista.
Last year, at least 56 million people in the United States cycled outdoors. Road cycling is the most popular way. People for Bikes reported that number was 112 million.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/bicycling.htm
They’re located in Bar Harbor at 141 Cottage Street
Website: barharborbike.com
Phone number: 207-288-2886
Email: info@barharborbike.com
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Awesome feature! Thanks for the shout-out.🤗