Austin native David Barrientos has been cycling through Buda since he was a student at Texas State University, but it was not until February 2017 that he—along with partners Richard Veregge and Josh Bumb—opened Buda Bike Co. at the Mill + Grain shopping complex.

“I like the family-oriented feel of it,” said Barrientos, who has owned Austin’s Tsunami Cycles since 2001, of Buda. “It’s been a warm welcome.”

The store sells a wide selection of bicycles, as well as clothing and accessories for cyclists; it is also a full-service repair shop and offers specialized services like Barrientos’ multi-session, six-month-guaranteed bike fittings.

Eddie Chavez, who worked at Tsunami for six years before becoming the shop manager and head technician at Buda Bike Co., said the shop has a positive attitude.

“It’s basically hustle, hard work and friendliness,” Chavez said.

Part of the mission of Buda Bike Co. is to educate the community about cycling, and toward that goal the store began offering its own take on a spin class; at Buda Bike Co. participants bring their own bikes, which are lifted off the ground on bike trainers.

“It’s to help the community get familiarized with their own bicycles,” Barrientos said. “How do they work? What’s a good gear selection for when you’re climbing hills or want to pick up speed?”

The spin class, which takes place Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., is a complement to the shop’s Saturday morning rides. The rides, which start at 7 a.m., now have 25-30 participants of “all different cycling levels,” Barrientos said.

“It is a true ‘no-drop’ ride, so no one ever gets left behind without one of us from the shop following.”

“You take that knowledge that you learned in spin class,” Barrientos said. “And if I say, ‘OK guys get into a low gear to start spinning up a hill, they know.”

In the future Barrientos hopes to add more spin classes as well as provide community services like bicycle repair clinics for children and adults.

“The cycling community is starting to grow a lot more,” Barrientos said. “It’s really just having them  know we’re there, knowing that they have a resource now, that they don’t have to go all the way into Austin.”

Buda Bike Co.
304 S. Main St., Buda
512-312-4780
www.budabikecompany.com
Hours: Mon., Wed.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 8 a.m.-1 p.m.; closed Tuesdays.