Saturday, February 7, 2009

Dade Cycle Shop - 1973

Miami, FL - The St. Valentines Day Massacre out back at then-cult-bike-shop Dade Cycle in Coconut Grove. Yes, those are six dead rats. Should have seen the hundreds that got away. Almost as creepy as this picture. The shop owned and operated by Joe Avalos (RIP), Dade Cycle's payroll over the years included a cast of charatcters unrivaled. Joe, Ivy, Maggie, The Gar, Cobb, The Kid, Flannigan, Bennie, Balkin, Big E, Joey, Como, Theodore, Tyrone, Woodul and on & on. (L to R: Paul Stillman, Doug Martin, Bill Woodul, Gary Cobb, Kurt Thomas, Steve Benebee)

5 comments:

sidewinder said...

It wouldn't be until the year 1976 that I would be added to the Dade Cycle payroll. I don't remember everything but a couple of memories do come to mind and one of them being an acquaintance of Joe Avalos's, asking why his high end road bike with all Campangnolo record, was equipped with Weinmann side pull brakes. And Joe said very sedately, "The point is to go, not stop."
Another memory would be when the "Big-E" and I went to a chain store to buy some tools. Big-E was caring a newspaper folded in half that had the stores sale-ad within. Well, when we left the store and got into his van, he opened the paper to show me that a large crescent wrench can come with a price of $0. Yeap, the "Big-E"!
I thought it was real cool how Dade Cycle had a pro section devoted to high end bicycles. I remember it clearly. A room with two levels of bicycles displayed on the wall. And the bicycles of yesterday were quite spectacular. Very different from today's.
M.M.

artist shabaka said...

Well, I don't know who "sidewinder" is, but I started at the shop in 1978. Joe told me I had the job while we were both at a race in Tallahassee. I left the shop in 1987, and returned in 1995-96. During that time I ended up as chief mechanic for Florida Cycling Federation traveling with the racing teams to the Caribbean mostly. My last trip was to D.R. in 1987.

I worked up at International Bicycle Shop in Ft. Lauderdale parttime after that while finishing my masters degree.

Private stories about events at the shop will only be shared in person to protect all involved. ;-)

Unknown said...

I started riding road bikes after watching a race at what is now the FIU - Dade county youth Fair grounds, that was about 1969-1970? I have all kinds of crazy stories from Dade Cycle in the years after this crowd were gone, none of which can be recounted here, to protect the guilty and the insane! I went to school with 'the kid' and raced in the same club for a few years. If you can call what I was doing "racing". I was mostly off the back during those years, the only time I ever finished in front of the kid was because his chain broke at Moroso race way. I'm retired now and recall those days fondly. The local bike scene in Miami is awful now, as is Miami itself unfortunately. In the early eighties during a conversation with Jose (Nani) Martinez, the subject of Cobb came up. He told me something I'll never forget, Martinez is one of the best riders south Florida ever produced, he said on training rides Cobb could drop him whenever he felt like it!

Unknown said...

A long time ago in a galaxy far far from perfect.....

Anonymous said...

I am john bicycle and I've been searching for survivors of Dade Cycle. Sad to hear of the passings of Steve B. and Benny C.
Anyone know of any others?