Bike Shop – G&O Family Cyclery

Davey Oil and Tyler Gillies opened G&O Family Cyclery in October 2013, a full service shop that specializes in bicycles for families. “A Family Cyclery is a place to find 100 different solutions for replacing car trips with bike trips while still meeting your adult responsibilities, but in style,” said Oil. “A Family Cyclery is a friendly bike shop that treats you and your bike like family.”

What is unique about G&O Family Cyclery?

Davey Oil: A few things. Over 3/4 of our customers so far are women. I think we are the only bike shop with a La Leche League sticker on the door. We are a utility bike shop that cares about looking good. There are a lot of hugs on new bike day at G&O. New bike day happens a few times a week. Twice since we’ve opened the shop I have been the first person outside the family (besides obgyns and midwives) to learn about a customer’s pregnancy. The ride is important!

What is the G&O Family Cyclery approach to promoting/ supporting accessible bicycling?

Davey Oil: I have a lot of answers to that one. It is why we are here. We think people need to be celebrated for coming to cycling. Beginners are the best! A friendly approach in the bike shop can go a long way to easing a beginner’s mind.

We are absolutely committed to helping to create a friendlier, more accessible bike culture. One way that we can do that is to help individuals gain the tools they need to live the lives they want to, on a bike. Another way is to support the emerging family biking movement. As men in a women-led and mostly women-serving part of the bike movement we can offer support in many ways. We must first acknowledge that sexism is a powerful force in bike culture and the bike industry. We then commit to following the lead of women in the bike industry who work for change, like Women Bike, at the League of American Bicyclists or the Portland Society and the Switchboard, or like the women who run most of the bike non-profits in our region.

We try to cater to the needs of all types of people in our shop and pay special attention to women, moms, and children in our space. We’ve got a changing table and a booster potty seat in the washroom. There’s a train table and we’ll even watch the kids for a few while you take a test ride.

Finally, we aspire to be accountable to women and to listen and act on their feedback, so we can always do better. One major reason that more men than women commute by bike in most cities is that more women are expected to combine a commute with kid pickup or trips to the market. We think that cargo bikes can help with that. At least school pickups can be awesome, now. We also participate and provide support for the community-building, fun as hell stuff, like Kidical Mass and holiday Cargo Bike Rides. We’ll be hosting more events starting this summer.

THE DETAILS

Address: 8417 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA

Website: familycyclery.com

Phone: 206-363-4663

Bikes from: Bike Friday, Brompton, Burley, Larry vs Harry, Metrofiets, Soma Fabrications, Surly, Xtracycle

Accessories from: ABUS, Berthoud, BionX, Brooks England, Busch and Muller, Crane, Cyclefab, eZee, Grin Technologies, Hebie, Lazer, Lezyne, NiteRider, Nitto, Outdoor Technologies, Topeak, Velo Orange, Wald, Yepp