Quick turnaround time for tune-ups and repairs has made Ace Bike Shop a winner for generations of customers. The business was started in 1957 by Thomas "Ace" Meeker on the corner of 18th and Brown streets in Springfield. It later moved to a garage on South Holmes Avenue, where the business became a neighborhood landmark, thriving from the 1960s to 1990s.
Tom's son, Pete Meeker, took over the shop in 1999 and soon relocated to the current location on MacArthur Boulevard, which offers better visibility and a larger parking lot. Like Pete, his employees are bike enthusiasts – Joe Kerske and Jim Bell, along with Rich Moscardelli, who has been a fixture in the shop for almost 30 years, hanging out there since his teens.
Ace offers primary brands Cannondale, Giant, GT and LIV, which has specialty models built for women. It's also a shop where you can purchase unicycles and order trikes or recumbent bikes with ergonomic options for riders of all types.
Ace Bike has been a sponsor of the BMX sports community since the 1970s. The shop offers a wide range of BMX cycles and equipment for adults and kids and supports riders who compete at Riverside Park, competing for points at the state level and in national USA BMX League events.
According to Moscardelli, Ace Bike shop has become a hub for the E-bike generation, offering Aventon and MokWheel bikes with "frame-integrated" battery-assist motors. Ace Bike also has specialists who can retrofit a battery-boost motor into a customer's current bike to add electric power.
"We cater to just about everyone, with sales and service often completed within a day," Moscardelli said. And customers love to see Meeker's collection of vintage bikes, ranging from a 1956 J.C. Higgins single-speed, balloon-tire cruiser to the 1960s Schwinn stingray with banana seat and ape-hanger handlebars, on display in the shop.
