Millburn High Gear Cycle (HGC) closed. South Orange resident looking for new bike repair shop strong on service.

South Orange resident looking for new bike repair shop within 10-15 miles of home. Visited Millburn HGC today (27-March) to have preventive maintenance done on Trek 7.2 FX purchased from store in March 2015. Bike has ~ 1500 road miles. Minus some inventory, store was empty. Large sign in window indicates store is looking for new tenant.

HGC service staff was top notch and will be missed. Thank you for any suggestions.

Wow, I'm surprised and disappointed to hear this. Not many (any?) bike shops in the area and it seemed like they did a good business. Service area up the ramp in the back was always bustling.

but what about my free maintenance for life???

REI on Route 10 in East Hanover has a cycling service shop. I'm not a big time cyclist so you'll have to rely on others' assessment of their skill.

cody2002 said:

but what about my free maintenance for life???

Is the original Stirling location still in business?

Oscar at Bike Land in Chatham knows everything.

Hilltop Bicycles in Summit gets high marks and runs group rides from the shop.

Both of those shops have other locations, but these are the closest.

I agree that the shop in Chatham seems very good. It's very sad that High Gear closed in Millburn. It's not clear from the website if the Stirling shop is closing, too. What a nice bunch of folks they had in Millburn.

I wen't by recently and there was a sign on the door that said closed for re-organization till April, so I hope they will be back.  In the meantime, Hilltop Bikes in Summit is also very good.

I've used the bike shop in Cranford with success...can't remember the name but its in the triangle across from the Cranford Theater, parking and entrance is in the back. 

Yeah, the shop in Sterling is also gone. Apparently they were going to become 'Trek stores' and some sort of deal with Trek fell though which led to their demise. Some in the cycling community are not happy about these corporate type stores (e.g. go into a Specialized shop and nearly everything is from Specialized).  I do most of my own work - it is not hard and can be satisfying - check out https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/ for a guide. Note that Park is a tool company so they will try to suggest ways that use their tools, but you don't really need that many specialized tools to do routine stuff.

Otherwise, I have a good impression of Oscar at Bike Land, and Hilltop seems to be a shop on the rise.

I remember when I was a 'yute. Mattie ran the Millburn Bicycle Shop for years and years.

"There is a difference between repairing a bike and just replacing parts on a bike."

In the early 50's, Millburn Twp. decided to issue license plates for bicycles. This was to cut down on bike theft. I don't know how this was supposed to solve anything but anyways --- the plates cost a couple of dollars and you had to provide the serial number on the bike.

The practice was discontinued.... I guess after bicycle thefts did not decline.

The guys in there were great, and it was great to have a different kind of retail space in town.  A real loss.

I've been a fan of Andy's in Linden, smalls shop where the people get to know their repeat customers.

https://www.andyscycle.com/

Sad, probably fell to online shopping.  Service was always great and friendly, but I imagine not profitable, and it is a highly seasonal business.  Good margins are in clothing, not bikes, and clothing is available discounted via the internet.  I'm sure rents in that location were high, perhaps High Gear's lease was expiring.  

Don't know anything about it, but there is Urban cyclery in East Orange.

Their life, not yours.

I was there the day they closed their doors, because I had to pick up my son's bike that I had left there 2 weeks prior to be repaired. Juan, who works there, gave me his card. He is still working, fixing bikes....wants the business so call him. I'm not sure his location, but he expressed to me the desire to get spread the word and he plans on working in the immediate area for a long time to come. He's EXCELLENT......Here is what's on his bus. card: 

The Bicycle REPAIRman

home: 908-282-1712

cel: 908.906.5401

juanangelurena@gmail.com

I emailed Juan but I didn’t hear back from him. So I went to Urban Cyclery in EO. Good place! I got a tuneup plus new chain, cassette and pedals for $118. I used to pay about $90 for just a tune at the Millburn place, plus they would take a week, week and a half to do it. Urban cyclery did same-day turnaround. Recommended!