High Gear Bicycle Shop

The year was 1976; Steve Alward and Doug Brawly escaped the hell of Phoenix and moved to Prescott with an excited entrepreneurial spirit. They pooled together $500 dollars and some used bicycle components. Doug found a small garage to rent, accessible only from the alley of Miller Valley Road. Rent was $50 dollars a month – no water, no gas… Thus, Back Street Bicycle Works began as an experiment. After all, who would think a business would succeed with $500 dollars starting capital.

In case of failure, there were part-time jobs to fall back on. Steve worked for United Van Lines and Doug was a janitor at the hospital. Things seemed to somehow work-out, though, in April of 1977 the shop was moved to a larger building on Miller Valley Road. A name change for the business was also necessary, so Back Street Bikes became High Gear Bike Shop. Doug later moved on and left Steve as the sole proprietor.

In 1989 the business was again moved to Iron Springs Road – better building, more visibility and good parking, but the business soon outgrew this facility and in 1993 a second store, High Gear East, was opened in Frontier Village. This proved to be not such a hot idea. However, before financial limits were reached the business was saved by another move to the current location on Sheldon and Mount Vernon.

This wasn’t an easy move, as the house needed restoration and the building had to be gutted and re-modeled, but thanks to tireless efforts from Steve and Cindy Alward, High Gear today is a business in “High Gear”! Here at High Gear Bicycle Shop located in Prescott Arizona, we are locally owned and ran by Cindy and Steve Alward. We all have a passion for the sport as well as the knowledge and skills needed for repairs.