Craig Kilmer at the entrance to his shop in the basement of the General Store. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Craig Kilmer, owner and certified wrench at CK Bikes in the basement of the General Store, specializes in “getting bikers back on the road fast,” he says.
Kilmer moved his business to Harvard full time in July after doing bike repairs here only on weekends while maintaining his year-old shop in Bolton. Kilmer says he decided that running back and forth from Bolton to Harvard and home to Lancaster was too much, and he observed that the Harvard location was bringing in more foot traffic than the Bolton shop did.
Kilmer was a mechanical engineer for about 30 years before changing gears. He and his wife Kyra were sick of running to stay in shape, he says, so they began biking and immediately found their new exercise of choice. Kilmer’s passion for biking grew from there. He traveled to Colorado to attend the Barnett Bicycle Institute for Bicycle Mechanics, where he was certified to repair, sell, and overhaul bikes. When Kilmer returned from Colorado, he opened his first bike shop.
A mobile repair shop
CK Mobile Bikes was born in July, 2010 as a mobile bike repair shop specializing in general repair, cable replacement, tire repair, and custom overhauls for functionality. It was housed in a 14-foot truck that Kilmer would drive to customers’ homes or park on the road to service bikes. Residents in local areas heard about Kilmer’s shop-on-wheels and started leaving bikes at his house for him to fix when he wasn’t on the road.
“I would come home and have bikes lined up waiting for me to fix them,” Kilmer said.
Craig Kilmer of CK Bikes teaches a class on bicycle maintenance to a group of Boy Scouts. (Photo by Stephanie Mongan)
To respond to the demand for his services, Kilmer opened a shop in Bolton in August 2013 and changed the name of his business to CK Bikes. But over this past summer, Kilmer began working weekends outside the Harvard General Store and found that more people were coming by for help right off the street than the foot traffic in Bolton. Kilmer decided that business would be more lucrative if he moved to Harvard, and he found space in the basement of the General Store.
In addition to his bike repair services, Kilmer began offering repair classes to cyclists of all ages and selling bikes as well. Kilmer sells new KHS bikes, various other brands of used bikes, biking accessories, and he even gives away a bike from time to time. If a rider from Boston or an inner suburb needs to leave a bike overnight, he’ll loan one of his cycles so the bicyclist can get home.
Classes for Scouts and adults
Kilmer’s repair classes are typically five weeks long, but he has also taught short-term repair classes to local Boy Scouts, who earn a badge and useful knowledge for their futures as bike-riding Scouts. He has also volunteered his services at large charity events such as the Pan-Mass Challenge, American Cancer Society, and Massachusetts Bike bike-a-thons.
Kilmer is grateful to have found such a high-traffic spot at the General Store and is thankful to all the local communities for their continued support and for bringing their bikes to his shop for repair. Kilmer and his wife Kyra live in Lancaster. They have three children and two grandchildren.
For more information about the store and for contact information, please visit the CK Bikes Website: www.ckbikes.com. The shop is open Wednesday through Friday from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
