More than 40 years ago Kyle Schmeer started a bike shop in his garage in Montgomery County PA. Unhappy with the quality of racing bicycles sold in the US, during the 10 speed boom of the late 70s and early 80s he had a vision of a shop selling the bicycles, gear and components he saw in the pro peloton. He began building his own frames and started relationships with frame builders and distributors in Italy and France. Kyle was a racer and knew what worked , he studied the bike fitting techniques of the Italian masters .
When the time was right he opened his store on Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr PA. The handshake deals led to accounts with newly formed import companies. The store’s stock and mechanics progressed as the technology of racing bikes did the same. He held his appreciation for steel lugged bikes and moved into the age of tig welded aluminum, then titanium and finally carbon fiber. While the majority of American shops were shifting to Shimano Kyle continued his devotion to Campagnolo. He employed racers and riders and kept a tight ship. He employed me after a bike crash fractured two of my vertabrae and I thought effectively ended my messenger career.
I moved to New York at the end 1999 and stayed there for a decade, eventually returning to delivering envelopes on a track bike.
In 1999 during my last months in the shop we had begun working on building a DeRosa Planet that was never completed.
In 2012 I was back in Philadelphia and finally wanted to finish the build. In New York I rode a Pinarello Paris road bike I bought from Speed – another former Bikyle employee. I stayed on lugged steel track bikes for work and laps of Central Park.
After riding the Paris for the first 3 years back in Philly I made the decision to get a custom Torelli countach road frame with chromed lugs and copper paint, similar to the early Williers . The Landlords book was out, the blog had been rolling for 2 years and I wanted to go with steel as proof of concept. I returned to the shop after 12 years to meet with Kyle to redo my fit measurements and re-establish the relationship with the place I had left in that cold winter of 1999.
That’s when I met Alex Winoski , he had been there a few years and already knew his way around Italian Steel and Campagnolo components. As time went on we began a lasting friendship. I saw other employees come and go through the years but Alex maintained his focus.
I filled in for a summer in 2019. I always want to be around racing bikes and I missed the camaraderie that exists in special bike shops like Bikyle. In late September of 2019 I had another life changing crash resulting in traumatic brain injury. If I had not worn a helmet I wouldn’t be writing this today. I’ll thank Kask for keeping me alive. I stepped away after that crash. A few months later Covid hit the US and Kyle began his slow departure from the helm of the shop. Alex picked up the responsibility and stayed the course.
6 years later Kyle was ready to move on to the next phase of his life and leave the shop completely. He passed the torch to Alex, his consistent manager and mechanic for closing in on 20 years. Alex was ready for it. His encyclopedic knowledge of decades in racing bike evolution and mechanics paired with his love for the sport made him a fitting heir to the throne. Really he was the only one who could do it. He understood the history and he sees the future of the sport we all love.
The handoff began in summer of 2026 and was completed by September . The transition from Cycles Bikyle to CBK was happening for real. The young fixie kid I met in 2012 had matured into a pro shop owner. I couldn’t be happier for him.
CBK is in the same location with the same bikes and the same pursuit of perfection in high performance cycling. He’s expanded the shop brands of Pinarello, Bianchi, Pegoretti, Cinelli and Look to bring Colnago into the selection. He’s supported a number of smaller builders and is always looking for the next company to make its appearance.
CBK is a shop that is able to work on everything from classic steel and friction shifting artistry to the cutting edge of new bike tech. There really is no shop I’ve encountered that holds the same history- technology and emotion like the motto Campagnolo used through out the years.
Following are some photos that represent the decades of history that exist in this small shop on Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr.
