Valdosta Bike Center

08/10/2026

One of the cool things about owning a bicycle shop:

I am able to get my hands on some unique/rare/vintage bicycles and sometimes, I’m able to make a deal to purchase them. We’ll get to enjoy them and do some research to better educate ourselves on the evolution of bicycles and manufacturers throughout the years.

I wish I would have documented every unique one that’s passed through our doors but I’ll do a better job from here forward.

Hit the like button if you enjoy these kinds of posts and I’ll be sure to do more in the future.

First up, is a 1996 Schwinn S[9-six].30 full suspension mountain bike. Chrome, silver and yellow. I’ve attached a picture from the 96 catalog which was included with the purchase of the bike.

Next, is a 1998 Schwinn S-10 full suspension mountain bike. Blue and chrome. I’ve also attached a picture from the 98 catalog which was included with the purchase of the bike.

Both of these are on display in the shop and for sale. They would be a great addition to anyone’s collection and both are in immaculate condition. Both can be ridden. These aren’t considered “rare” by internet terms but in almost 6 years of the bike business and thousands of bikes that have passed through…they are the first Schwinn full suspension mountain bikes that I have seen from the 90s.

Again, please like and/or comment if you want to see more posts like this.

08/08/2026

Heres the video from the news.

Three days after an arson killed a Valdosta man, two people who knew him in very different ways are coming together to remember him.

08/08/2026

I’ve had a lot of visits, calls, emails, comments, and messages the last few days and a lot of people have asked about arrangements so I said I would post them.

I’ve learned so much about Josh the last few days but the message remains the same…be kind to everyone, you just never know what they are going through.

08/06/2026

Like many others in Valdosta, yesterday I heard of the traumatic news that a homeless person set fire to a homeless camp and 2 victims were seriously injured. Because of the location, I immediately was concerned that one of them injured was Joshua Reagan. I tried calling and texting Josh yesterday but I could never get through. This morning I heard the news that he had passed away last night and I verified it was him because his name had not been release yet. I waiting for VPD to release his name in an official post before making this post.

I am posting the VPD post of the incident, a picture of Josh, and some of the things around the shop that Josh was working on for me.

I think this story is important for awareness so spend a few minutes of your time reading and please share.

I’ve known Josh for a few years and he has come around the shop from time to time getting used parts from the scrap pile to work on his bikes. Josh has been homeless for at least the last 2-3 years but I’m sure it’s probably been a lot more than that. Josh would come by the shop looking for used parts for his bike and he wouldn’t let me give him anything…he always wanted to do some work for the parts I gave him. The picture of the bike fence was one of the first projects he helped built. People that know me, know that I believe in a hand up and not a hand out. The bike fence was built from a few guys who were working off debt with me and Josh was one of them. Josh would attach 2-3 bikes to the fence in exchange for bike parts. At one time about 2 years ago, Josh owed me $70 for the remaining balance on a used bike but then he disappeared for almost 6 months. He walked in one day and apologized because he had been making some bad decisions and didn’t want to come around the shop while he was “not right”. But one thing I won’t forget, he said “Mr. Shawn, I know I still owe you some money and I’m going to pay it”. I asked how much he owed me and he said $70. Josh came back and worked the money off on the fence row.

I had the wooden fence built in February and I had the idea of hanging bikes on the fence as part of an art project but to be honest, I wanted to have something that Josh could take pride in and work off some parts. I also wanted to be able to give him a little cash to eat. And let’s be honest, it’s kind of cool. Josh has been working on this fence for the last 6 months and also has mowed the yard every 2 weeks. This has kept him active around the shop and has given him some projects to work on. Last week he and I talked about how he was doing and he was proud to say he has made it quite a few days “without a needle”. For him that was a big deal. I told him I was proud of him and he told me what his record was in the last few years and he felt if he could get past that, then maybe he wouldn’t do it again. I don’t know if he made it to that point or not, but if he didn’t, he was very close. We talked about how getting clean would lead to a longer life and he wanted to work on getting out of his situation. He couldn’t wait for the day to be out of “the woods”. The last thing he said as he walked out of the shop last week was that he wanted to get his life together because he didn’t want to die young.

Josh was homeless and he was an addict who fought his internal battle every day. He was kind hearted and never asked for anything. I trusted him in my shop and knew that he would never steal from me. He may have made poor decisions but the relationship he and I had was built on respect, trust, and understanding. We lived 2 completely opposite lives but somehow had a common ground when it came to bicycles. He could take 3 junk bikes and somehow make one good one even though nothing matched the others. Everytime he got a bike to work, he always came back to have me come outside to see his work. He was so excited to show me. Josh was always respectful to me and my staff and worked hard every time he was there. He was excited to tell me the other day that he had 4 clients that he was mowing yards for.

The fence isn’t done, but I’ll have someone who needs to trade parts step in and finish it but it will get done and I’ll always remember Josh when I look out the window. Josh struggled with addiction and ultimately it took his life in a different way. I am glad he is not in pain. I hope that people can see and understand that addicts and homeless are people too and some of them may be in that position because their hearts may just be a little bit bigger than ours. Rest in peace my good friend and thank you for a valuable lesson in life you have taught me…be kind, because you don’t know what someone else is struggling with and everyone deserves respect and understanding.

-Shawn

08/01/2026

One of our biggest misunderstandings in the shop is the costs of repairing department store bikes.

For example, the bicycle in the picture below is an older Next Ultra Shock Walmart bike that costs $150 new back in 1999-2000. Nevermind the big recall with the forks... even more reason to leave it alone.

This bike is a perfect example. The customer who had this bike was not interested in getting it fixed, just wanted to donate it to our scrap pile. Tires are flat and dry rotted, chain is rusted, and bike won’t shift (rusted cables) and brakes are froze up (rusted cables).

Here’s a breakdown on cost to repair:
Tires: $30 each =$60
Tubes: $10 each=$20
Labor to change: $15 each=$30
Cables/housing for brakes: $25
Cables/housing for shifters: $25
Chain: $25
Labor to size and install chain: $15
Tune up and polish: $50

You can see the total quickly gets to $250 before tax.

The bike in the picture was $150 new and has no vintage value. I found a comparable brand for sale at Walmart for $148. We are quick to explain, while we don’t mind doing the work, it just doesn’t make economical sense on a bike like this unless there is sentimental value with it.

Now…spending $250 to bring back a bike that is high quality like Trek, Specialized, Giant, Cannondale, Marin, etc…makes complete logic because you can’t replace those bikes with anything of the similar quality for $250.

Department store bikes are cheap for a reason and they aren’t made to last or be ridden much. You are much better off shopping/purchasing one of our used bikes that are ready to go for $275 and up. These are great quality bikes that would have cost $500 and more when they were new. And they still hold resale value on down the road.

Bring your bike in and we will look over your bike and give you an honest opinion on your best options and you make the choice. If you decide you don’t want to fix it, you can donate it to our scrap pile where we can hopefully find some use for any good parts left. No bikes go to the landfill…and they may actually end up on our fence.

07/29/2026

Had a lot to say but I’ll keep it short... well not really.

I’ve had to ask/TELL 4 different customers to leave my shop in the last week and don’t come back on my property. I will not tolerate disrespect to me or my staff.

For example…
1. Don’t get your feelings hurt and argue with me if I don’t want to buy your rusted up Walmart bike for $20…or even for $5. It’s my choice.

2. Don’t get your feeling hurt and argue with me if I tell you that you can’t borrow my tools to try and fix your bike on my front porch…because you don’t want to pay me my price for me to fix it.

3. Don’t get your feelings hurt and argue with me because I won’t troubleshoot and repair your “great deal” ebike you purchased on Amazon 2 months ago and now they won’t take it back.

4. Don’t get your feelings hurt and argue with me if you have to wait 2 weeks for me to repair the bike that’s been broken and sitting in your garage for 3 months. I have 30 other customers who dropped their bike off before you.

5. Don’t get your feelings hurt and argue with me if you have to wait 2 weeks on your repair….even though you need it everyday for transportation. It’s a first in-first out business and I have to be fair to all of my customers. (No you can’t pay extra to jump the line).

6. Don’t get your feelings hurt and argue when you call 7 times in a row back to back and I finally answer and tell you right away that I’ll call you back when I’m done with the customer in front of me. That’s what the answering machine is for..and I do return calls. Also I have caller ID and knew it was you all 7 times.

7. Don’t get your feelings hurt and argue with me when you call and ask if I have a tube for your Huffy. When I ask what size tube you need, instead of giving me the size you continue to tell me it’s a Huffy and since I’m a bike mechanic, I should know. There are hundreds of Huffys over the years in different models and sizes. For comparison, that’s like calling a Ford dealership and asking for a starter.

8. Don’t get your feelings hurt and argue with me when you find out your $50 “great marketplace bike” is going to cost $200 to replace the dry rotted tires/tubes, rusted chain and tune it up so it all shifts nicely. And even after all of that work, the bike will still only be worth $50. And no I won’t give you $50 for it. (See #1)

9. And last don’t get your feelings hurt and argue with me when you bring a bike that YOU want to donate to someone but want me to fix it first. And when I tell you how much it’s going to cost to fix it, you say “but I’m donating it so can’t you fix it for free or at a nominal price”. If you want to be generous and donate bikes, drop them off and I will look at them and I’ll decide if we want to fix and donate them or put them in the scrap pile to use for others we donate. We both can feel good about that. If you want to give your donated bike to someone in particular or an organization in particular, then pay my price to fix it before you donate it. The truth of it is…your donated bike may be too far gone and only be good to use for my bicycle fence or to hang as “art” outside. Trust me…I know what can be salvaged and what can’t.

All of these have happened recently and again I will not tolerate disrespect to myself or my staff. If you find yourself in one of these areas, I highly recommend you taking your bikes to one of the other bike shops in town.

07/27/2026

81 teens helped. Thanks again for everyone who had a part in this.

07/25/2026

I know everytime we jump in to help an organization in our community, we have an army of support ready to jump with us. We don’t spend money on advertising or marketing because we choose to budget that money and resources on our community instead.

Thank you again to the army of support we had and for those of you that couldn’t help this time, we’ll need you on our next big event.

07/25/2026

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We did it!!! Our little family owned local shop was able to fill 48 backpacks full of school supplies with the help of our customers, families, and friends.

Thanks again to the following who jumped in and helped without hesitation:

Fabulous Pizza and Wings
Travel with MJ
FitMix Group Fitness & Personal Training
Fire & Flour Sourdough
Derek Davis
Maite Moirano Martin
Matthew Del Rossi
Dave Eikenberry
Jasmine Atkins
Stacey
Lee Schert
Kristen Wilson
Shelley Adams
Tammy Elliston
Amanda Nicole Presley
Chance Daniels
Ann Peace
Andrew Masters
Paz Platt
Loren Williams
Graham Wesley Nguyễn

Special thanks to Maite Martin for doing all the shopping for us and putting all the backpacks together.

And thanks to Felicia Kohler and her organization for what they do to support the youth in our community.

HOPE in Action South Georgia

07/24/2026

Updates