DON JOHLE'S BIKE WORLD

[Rat Rod]

Those of you in the DFW Metroplex may recognize the name of this shop and many of you may have visited the place and made purchases here. A friend of mine recently started working at this shop and he called me the other day to let me know what he was up to. I had heard of Don's place over the past couple of years, but didn't know much about it or where it was exactly.

Today on my lunch break I decided to head on over and check the place out. The shop is over in Garland on Broadway near I-30 and it was neat to see a smaller shop still up and running. I love visiting these places because there is always some history behind them and the owners typically have some really cool stories to tell.

For those of you who loved BMX racing back in the 70s and 80s, the name Don Johle may sound familiar to you. Don was a factory rider for Robinson and later for Raleigh and he managed to rack up quite a few impressive wins during his career as a pro BMX rider. Many of you know that I have a real soft spot for vintage BMX after growing up in the 70s and 80s...so to be able to hear Don talk about his racing career and share stories of his races and dealings with his sponsors was the highlight of my day. Don raced professionally up until he turned 21 and then he and his Father had an opportunity to invest in a bike shop and the rest is history.

Don's shop originally opened as a BMX shop back in 1985 and as the years went on, and the trends changed, they eventually expanded their inventory to include just about every style you would want. They still have a pretty big selection of BMX bikes and they service everything and sell parts. What they don't have in stock, they can always order it for you. Make sure you ask for Mitch if you are in the area and need to pick up some parts...he's the resident Rat Rodder there. :mrgreen:

So no matter where you are, try to seek out that small Mom & Pop bike store and send some love their way to keep them in business and keep the history alive!

DON JOHLES BIKE WORLD, INC.
5513 Broadway, Garland, TX 75043
Phone: 972-240-7678
10-7 M-F, 10-6 SAT, We ride on Sunday.
http://djsbikeworld.com


A few quick pics I shot at the shop today...

Okay...how cool is this!

A few shots from Don's racing days...

More pics from Don's racing career...

http://djsbikeworld.com/articles/djs-re ... s-pg80.htm


Some history behind the shop...

http://djsbikeworld.com/articles/djs-bi ... y-pg79.htm

 

[StepChld]

I went to high school w/ Don and he's a heckuva nice guy! They've helped me remove stuck chainwheels and find bits and pieces for no longer existent bikes and always had good advice. Nice guys through and through! Also a couple of the guys that work there are very involved in DORBA (Dallas Off Road Bike Assoc.) and give free clinics on the trails nearby, teaching newbies how to ride off road and simple mechanical stuff. Oh, and they've donated stuff to my son's Cub Scout Pack for Bike Corrals.These really are good guys!
Steve, you were about a 1/2 mile from the Duck Creek Greenbelt, nice concrete path to ride a cruiser and about 3 miles from my home! :wink:

 

[Rat Rod]

That's awesome!

Love to hear about shops treating people well.

I would have loved to swing by and check out that bike path, but I ended up taking a 2 hour lunch.

 

[sean1960]

Don Johle's Bike World is a nice bike shop! Their about 10 or 12 miles from us. I like going there because it's a smaller shop with better customer service.

I agree with StepChld, Duck Creek Greenbelt is nice, we used to ride it all the time when we lived closer.

 

[rydr1]

That is cool.

 

[yoothgeye]

Wait wait wait... *that* is a smaller shop? I can fit both my LBSs in that one with room to spare, plus both of my LBSs are also doing another business out of each location (one chimney sweep, the other locksmith). The closer shop is about a mile away but hardly open and no longer stocking anything unless needed, but they only order from 1 catalog and the other one is almost an hour away.

I'm jealous of all of you with active bike shops...

Have I mentioned that, as far as I know, nobody who works at the bike shop closest to me actually rides a bike.

 

[kngtmat]

Cool bike shop, I like bikes with the cup holders.


There are several bike shops here, one has a lot of bikes with some that are 70's and older with new bikes and adult trikes and the other is a small one with a few bikes and trikes who is a locksmith too.

 

[StephenH]

I live a bit over a mile from the bike shop. It's where I bought my Raleigh Sojourn. I started riding with their Saturday non-drop ride several years ago. (I haven't been on it much lately due to doing lots of randonneuring stuff on weekends!) A good shop, service dept has been booked up the last couple of times I was in there, but I've used 'em for lots of service along, too.

 

[wolfy]

Cool shop the nearest from me is beutiful and huge but extremly overpriced and generally carries bikes i cant afford thats one of the reasons i get most stuff from big box stores and used.

 

[FatBoy]

There is a Great shop in Santa Maria, Ca, called Pedal Power,The owner is super cool,very knowledgeable,and even offered to let me pick through his old race bikes for free parts..This shop has all the bells and whistles and I turned the owner onto RRB so maybe well have a new member!What a cool guy,He was stoked to hear about this site, he has allready built a stereo bike,and is currently working on a flintstone bike project...