Pete Lilly rides his bike to work every morning but takes his kid to hockey in a Ford SUV. As such, he knows the frustration of being cut off by both an aggressive driver and an overzealous cyclist.
The 53-year-old Edmonton native is more than just a run-of-the-mill city cyclist; he owns Sweet Pete’s, a quaint Bloordale bike shop that has been a staple of the neighbourhood since it opened in the 1990s.
Amid the contentious debates around Toronto’s bike lanes, Lilly is seeing his business diversifying; more families are coming in and buying bikes as cycling becomes a more efficient (and safe) mode of transportation for parents with young children, he said, and his staff is seeing novice riders dipping their toes into the realm, either as a hobby or as a means of getting around town.
Though Lilly said his business exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic — in construction parlance, he said they “sold down to the studs” — that momentum has continued in the post-pandemic years. It’s a cultural shift that isn’t yet fully supported by city infrastructure, but could get there soon.
“We’ve seen the conversation grow and grow,” Lilly said. “Family decisions (are) being made on transportation, whereas 30 years ago, people were coming in and buying bikes to ride for fun, and now the conversation is transportation, commuting. It’s just a more family-oriented business conversation that’s happening.”
For Lilly, bikes made by the American brand Trek and the Taiwanese brand Giant tend to do best with families, but his shop boasts a handful of brands and styles.
Indeed, at any given moment, it’s possible to buy bikes from more than 25 different brands at Toronto’s slew of independent retailers, ranging from sleek and modern to rugged and chunky.
While determining the exact number of cyclists in Toronto has proved to be a difficult task — as the Star’s Kate Allen recently reported — Lilly is far from the only cycle proprietor seeing a more diverse clientele in his shop; Canadians spent more than $1.7 billion on bikes, equipment and accessories in 2023, according to Statistics Canada.
Aaron Enchin has, similarly, spent his entire adult life in and around bike shops. He started working at Curbside Cycle in the Annex, then owned by his stepfather, shortly after his bar mitzvah. He then officially took over the shop last December and has been its steward ever since.
He said his staff prioritizes accessibility and openness, especially for those just getting into cycling.
“If you’re on a bike, you’re a cyclist as much as anyone,” said Enchin, 37, whose establishment bills itself as the city’s “friendliest bike shop.”
Two-wheeled cargo bikes from the European brands Urban Arrow and Riese & Müller sell well with families, as do three-wheeled, safety-oriented vehicles from Winther, he said, the latter of which sells bikes that can carry more than 200 kilograms.
While he calls bicycle repairs “the backbone of any bike shop,” Enchin describes the emergence of Toronto’s bike lanes — some of which are slated to be removed following legislation passed by the Ontario government — as “fabulous for business.”
“The infrastructure has helped,” Enchin said, “the product availability has helped.”
At Urbane Cyclist, a worker-owned co-operative bike shop on College Street near Spadina Avenue, sales manager Gabe Enright-Levine observes that Toronto, unlike some cities in Europe, isn’t set up around bikes or pedestrian paths, even if he, too, is noticing an increasing number of families in the store.
“I think we are bumping up against a cultural barrier to cycling, just in general,” Enright-Levine said. “We’re almost waiting for the critical mass of once everyone has sort of caught on to the benefits of these things.”
Cultural barrier or not, Torontonians seem hungry for the experience of buying bikes from boutique brands in smaller shops; there are at least 60 independent retailers within city limits, according to a 2022 directory compiled by the city.
Ultimately, Lilly preaches understanding on all sides of the issue.
He said that cyclists and drivers alike could benefit from travelling a mile in the other’s shoes. That’s why when he meets someone at his son’s hockey practice who complains about bike lanes, one of the first things he asks is, “Have you tried it?”
“I think maybe that’s part of the problem in the city,” Lilly said, “is that you have too many cyclists who have never driven a car and too many drivers who’ve never ridden a bike in the city. So, you’ve got these two polarized groups that point the finger at each other and say that we can’t coexist.”
