Mellow Johnny’s - Lance Armstrong’s Bike Shop

I don’t believe there has been as much build up and anticipation about the opening of a bike shop ever seen (States side anyway) then the grand opening of Lance Armstrong’s shop Mellow Johnny’s. The blogosphere has been abuzz since the initial press release. Mainstream media has also picked up and relayed the news. On May 10th the shop opened for business with a star studded lineup with Gary Fisher, Chris Carmichael and Lance himself on hand. I didn’t make it down to the grand opening premiere, I was busy riding the 106 miles of the Armadillo Hill Country Classic.

I was however able to get to downtown Austin this week to the shop located on 400 Nueces. The shop is spacious, the layout is very well thought out and the use of the space is conducive. With 9000 sq. ft you can see the entire shop from end to end. This also makes it easy to see all the merchandise and Lance Armstrong memorabilia. It’s obvious that a lot of thought has been put into the layout and asthetics of the shop.

The walls are adorned with photos of Lance throughout his career. His past Trek bikes are hanging from the rafters in many locations throughout the shop, along with other things he had cluttering up his garage like 7 yellow Tour De France jerseys. This all made for a nice atmosphere.

The actual shop area is very clean, which would be understandable since they’ve only been open for a week. What will be impressive is if they are able to keep the tidiness as their clientele grows and the number of bikes they are working on increases. With the openness of the area they will have to make sure all their tools are properly put away.

Trek and Gary Fisher are the big bike brands that Mellow Johnny’s carries. There are also Swobo, DeRosa, Eddie Merckx, Pinarello, Seven and local frame builder Crumpton had a bike on display for sale. The item that really piqued my interest were the kits. The Mellow Johnny’s kits are impressive and they come in 3 different color combinations. For a shop kit’s they look good, are simple and adorned with only the Mellow Johnny’s logo. Kits are available in black with white lettering/logo, white with black lettering/logo or blue with white lettering/logo. All kits have matching shorts, bibs and socks. For me the price of the jersey ($109) was the deterring factor.

 

It’s not all bikes at Mellow Johnny’s, they also have a coffee shop, Juan Pelota, located inside. They offer coffees, smoothies, assortment of teas, pastries and grab and go salads and sandwiches. As for the name, no there is no bike reference and no it’s not Tex-Mex for Johnny’s Peloton. In case you missed the inside joke, it’s Spanish and translates to One Ball, another Armstrong nickname. Pretty darn funny, but makes me rethink ordering the pelo-tonic smoothie.

All in all the shop is a cool place to hang out. If you are a commuter in downtown Austin then the shop is a welcome opening as they offer a shower for commuters and bike storage for commuters as well.

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