Switching Gears: Newport Bicycle Reopens Under Former Owner's Son

Inside what will soon be Newport Bicycle, it’s hard to imagine the store will celebrate a grand opening in a few days. Drop cloths, bits of tile and paint are strewn about the floor and there’s a ladder still set up from a recent window installation project. 

On April 2, Newport will be invited to the grand opening, and there is still much to be done. Due in part to a permit hiccup and mainly to the speed with which an ownership transition occurred, preparations will be down to the wire. It’s a crazy chaos, but Rob Purdy is excited.

Despite the sign-less storefront and the fact that he's not even open for business, he has already sold five bikes. He seems to be off to a good start. 

“It was a handshake deal on Feb. 1,” he said. Former shop owner Mike Rezendes approached him shortly before asking if he’d like to take over the shop, which Purdy gladly accepted.

Purdy knows bikes, but more importantly, he knows Newport, and he knows this business. He grew up inside Newport Bicycle with his father at the helm, and he knows that business isn’t just about business. Purdy is from the age where if the phone rings late at night hours after closing, he’ll probably be there to answer it. He even has to remind himself to tell people the bike shop is on Dr. Marcus Wheatland Boulevard, not West Broadway, the location from his childhood.

“I have a real passion for this place,” he said. His passion comes from his personal connection to the store, which he has dreamed of running since before he can even remember. “I wanted to bring back the family element." That, and he wasn’t happy with the direction the shop headed once it left his family. 

All in The Family

This weekend, Newport Bicycle will reopen in a space connected to where Rob Purdy’s father ran the same business more than 20 years ago. 

Even though decades have passed, Purdy appears to be at home. If he walks straight out the back of the repair shop, he’ll walk into the space that used to be Newport Suzuki, another shop his father owned. The shop on Dr. Marcus Wheatland Boulevard was also part of his father's original property.

“I’ve spent thousands of hours where I’m standing right here,” he said.

Purdy remembers growing up in the shop when it was located on Broadway with mechanics he considers family. He even recalls times he would sleep on old bicycle boxes while his dad worked late fixing bikes.

“He’d work until 1 or 2 a.m. There were nights I’d wake up and my dad was still working and the sun was coming up,” Purdy said.

He grew up in the shop, working on mopeds, fixing motorcycles, changing tires, and put together FA50s. That kind of hands-on work he learned as a kid, he tries to instill in his own three children. His 17-year-old daughter will do some of the counter work and his 12-year-old son will also do some work around the shop.

Only time will tell if the next generation of Purdys inherit the store. His oldest son is in college, which Purdy said is the most important thing.

“In this day and age, you have have to go to college,” he said. “Learn this, then go to college, and if [he] wants to come back here and do this, all the power to him.”

Self-sufficiency is the main lesson he tries to teach his children. The lessons they learn in the bike shop will stay with them long after they move on from home, he said.

The History

Newport Bicycle has a storied history. It has called several locations around Newport home since the 1950s. It had homes on Farewell Street, Marlborough Street, and Broadway under Purdy’s father, Bob Purdy. According to Purdy, legend has it that the shop dates back to the early 20th century, something he's trying to research.

The elder Purdy owned the shop from 1969 to 1985, back when it was B & J’s cycle. Purdy said he father owned a 60-foot stretch on Broadway that was the bike shop and Newport Suzuki, a repair shop for motorcycles.

The store changed hands when Bob Purdy sought semi-retirement and handed over the bike shop to Mike Rezendes, who took the store around the corner to Caleb Earl Street.

Rezendes, who was owner of Newport Bicycle in Washington Square at the time, consolidated the shops under the same name, Purdy said.

The shop even houses some artifacts of bike shops past. Purdy proudly showed off a 1974 phone book that his dad just dropped off with the old B & J’s ad in the yellow pages. In a carefully sealed plastic bag, he has an even older, yellowed receipt book dating back to the '50s. The phone number reads “773” from back when phone numbers were only three digits long. They are the same three digits that end the shop’s phone number to this day.

What’s To Come

In addition to the grand opening on Saturday, Purdy is also offering a Groupon for the same day. The Groupon is not so much for profit, he said, but to get people to come out to his store.

As for his inventory, Newport Bicycle will carry Torker and Redline bicycles. The shop will cater to buyers looking to buy mid-priced bicycles ranging from $300 to $600, although Purdy said he won’t discriminate against people who bring in cheaper brands for repairs. The store will also make repairs for scooters, mopeds and motorcycles.

The shop will be open seven days a week until the last Sunday in September, when Purdy will scale back the hours. He said he hopes to extend the hours around Christmast.

“This is going to be the working man’s bike shop,” he said. “If you don’t have passion you won’t survive.”