Four years after opening their first bicycle shop in Mifflin County, brothers Chris and Nick Johnston are expanding their business to the State College area.
Two Brothers Bicycle Co.‘s second location is scheduled to open on Friday at 1245 Benner Pike in College Township, next door to U-Haul of State College and adjacent to the Hite Company.
The Johnstons got their start refurbishing and reselling used bikes at home before opening their first brick-and-mortar location in 2021 in Lewistown then moving to a larger location in Burnham. A Centre County shop has been in their five-year plan, said Chris Johnston, who will manage the State College store while Nick manages the Burnham location.
“When we got started, we knew there was a great community of cyclists over here, and we wanted to be able to support that as well,” Chris Johnston said. “And obviously, we got started out in Burnham, where our current location, our primary location, is, and that area was just underserved. So, it was a great place to start and there’s awesome trail riding on that side of Rothrock State Forest. It was a good place to get started, but we ultimately wanted to be in both spots, so it was just a natural progression for us.”
The State College location will sell a variety of bicycles and e-bikes from brands including Santa Cruz, Salsa and Aventon, along with parts and accessories, while also offering repairs and service.
“We are a full-service shop. So anything you need, no matter what kind of bike it is, we’ll be able to take care of you,” Chris Johnston said.
In the short-term, Nick Johnston will be back and forth between the Burnham and State College stores to assist with service and repairs until a service technician is hired for the new location. The job listing and application are available on the Two Brothers Bicycle Co. website.
Response from the Centre County cycling community about the new Two Brothers Bicycle Co. shop has been “overall… overwhelmingly positive,” Chris Johnston said.
“I’m very, very happy to see that,” he said. “We got a lot of good feedback when we put our posts out on social media. We had a huge response to that. Happy that we’re here, generally speaking. We sponsor the Happy Valley Women’s Cycling Team as well, so I know they’re happy to have a place that’s closer to them, to come here for whatever service that they need or if they’re looking to get a new ride, of course we’ll be able to help them there, too. We love being a part of that.”
While the State College location will open at 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 10, the Johnstons plan to hold some special events once warmer weather approaches to showcase the products and services at the new store.
“We will have some demo stuff going on in the spring, closer to better riding weather,” Chris Johnston said. “When people start thinking about getting outside again, we’ll have some vendors here to do some demo rides, have some tent-style setup stuff going on with some product demos, and then maybe a chance to go take some bikes out and take them out to Fisherman’s Paradise if you want to try something on a rail trail, or if they want to go take a demo day, that would be an opportunity to do that.”
Once open, Two Brothers Bicycle Co.’s State College store hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
