Two West Berkeley cycling businesses, each with a decade or more in the city, closed nearly simultaneously earlier this year — the consequence, they say, of a contraction of the cycling industry after a surge in sales during the pandemic.
Berkeley Cycle Works, located on San Pablo Avenue, near Cedar Street, and Wrench Science, a custom bike building shop near San Pablo and Ashby, both closed in February, citing the headwinds facing the industry.
Meanwhile, Jitensha Studio, a third longtime custom bike shop with an even longer history in the city, is leaving its location in the Southside neighborhood, at the corner of Bancroft Way and Ellsworth Street, to make way for a new student housing project, and it’s unclear what will come next for the shop, which is struggling with high rents and the cost of the move…