OAKLAND, Calif. (BRAIN) — David Archard landed in Oakland after bike touring the West Coast in 2009. Since then he has worked toward opening a bike shop — first joining forces with Brazen Bicycles, where he updated vintage steel frames with modern components, and later for a small online custom shop.
Now, after nearly three years of planning, Archard and partners Aaron Wacks and Jimmy Ryan have opened Luckyduck Café and Bike Shop in Oakland. The 2,100-square-foot space is split evenly between the café and the retail shop, which has a full-service repair department. Located in the front of the store, the café serves coffee, beer and wine along with breakfast and lunch.
“We didn’t want to just open a bike shop because you need so much capital upfront,” Archard said. “So we decided to open a café too, which will hopefully help make the bike shop more accessible to more people. We want to make it easier for people to gain entry and start a conversation.”
Archard, Wacks and Ryan spent months building out the space, which saved them money and allowed them to initially stock inventory they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford. “We’re still keeping it lean, though, focusing on touring, commuting, bikepacking, randonneuring and custom builds,” Archard said. “We also do wheel builds and lots of dynamo stuff, and are deep into cyclocross.”
For now, Luckyduck is selling only used and low-cost commuter bikes the partners have built up on old steel frames and new frames made by local builders and Winter Bicycles in Pittsburgh.
