White Pine Bicycle Co.

Instagram: @whitepinebicycleco
whitepinebicycleco.com

What We Do

At White Pine Bicycle Co. we specialize in city bicycles. We carry two main styles of bicycle, cruisers and commuters. Our mission is to provide quality bicycles at reasonable prices. We want to make sure our customers are purchasing bicycles they will actually use. This is why we offer full customizability of our bikes. Customers are able to pick and choose every component of our commuter bikes and we then build the bikes in the store. If there is something that a customer wants that we don’t have, we will try our best to get it for them.

The History of White Pine

My name is Brendan McAndrew, I started White Pine Fixies in the spring of 2014. I came up with the idea after I had searched for a single speed bicycle for myself. I wanted the bike because I was planning to race again and needed a bike that I could train on. It didn’t need to be overly light or fancy but had to be able to take the beating that the country roads I ride on will give it. Commuter single speeds were my perfect option. When I searched locally there was a very limited selection and they were very over priced. In the end I ordered one online from California. It was not easy and I didn’t like buying the bike site unseen. I over paid and had to deal with the task of shipping a bike from California to Winnipeg. It was not cheap to say the least and the bike was not treated well in shipping and had damage when it arrived. The experience left me wishing there had been an easier option.

In the spring of 2014 I was attending university when I heard about a business plan competition hosted by a company in Toronto. I decided I would enter and write a plan for a bicycle company. I did extensive research into how I could make a realistic business on my budget. This led me to the concept of doing sales and rentals out of a kiosk at the Forks in central Winnipeg. As part of my research I also contacted the Forks to find out information about rent and leasing. They wanted me to come in to meet with them and discuss the idea. At this point it was only an idea but when I met with them they asked me when I could start. I had not planned for the question but did not want to disappoint so I said June. After that day my focus changed to everything White Pine Fixies.

On June 25th the kiosk officially opened with a full fleet of commuter bicycles. This inventory changed to include cruisers throughout the summer. The kiosk operated successfully thought the summer and when my lease ended on September 2nd I had to make the decision of what to do next. I had two options, seasonal or open a permanent shop. I decided I would take the challenge of winter and open up a permanent shop. On September 15th White Pine Bicycle Company opened on the main floor of the Johnston terminal. We are still located there today and the business has been doing very well since.