sotherland - BicycleWise and Sports Fitness

sotherland
custom
bicycles
&
,
+
bicyclewise sports
fitness whitewater wi
by Tom Held
photographs by Dave Schlabowske
40
WisconsinBikeFed.org
41
“...All around the world,
bicycles transform people’s
lives. We believe in what
we’re doing.”
Hundreds of bicyclists around the country have enjoyed the precision, craftsmanship and talent John
Sotherland puts into his custom-built bicycles.
Now locals near his shop in Whitewater enjoy the
same exacting pursuit of perfection as he makes an
Americano, Latte or Cappucino.
Bike builder and barista, Sotherland wears either
apron in one place, the former greenhouse he and his
wife, Liz, have turned into the new home of BicycleWise Sports and Fitness and Sotherland Custom
Bicycles.
The shop at 1155 W. Main St. brings together all the
elements John and Liz Sotherland envisioned when
they first opened BicycleWise in 2001, then in a strip
mall almost directly across the street.
That tight space gave them a start, but it didn’t provide enough room for the coffee counter or John’s bike
building equipment or the comfortable chairs that
make this new location as much a hub for cyclists as
a bike store.
“The other one was in a mall, so you felt like you
were in a mall,” said Tom Maier, a frequent customer
and avid cyclist from Elkhorn. “It’s just more friendly,
a more friendly atmosphere inside. I can sit and chat
if I want to, and if they’re busy I can stay as long as I’m
comfortable.”
A vaulted, wood ceiling in the front of the store—the
main area filled with bikes, parts and clothes—creates the ski-chalet feel that John Sotherland favored
in his Alpine days. The greenhouse, filled with plants
in winter, provides life and warmth “and John for entertainment,” Liz Sotherland explained. Customers
bring in chives, rosemary and other herbs to winter
next to the snowshoes and ice skates.
The coffee counter includes vegan and organic
snacks and sits under a sign that shows the Sotherlands’ real purpose as bicycle and outdoor gear retailers. It advises customers: “We’re Serious. Get Out and
Play.”
“This is basically what we wanted, promoting
healthy lifestyles, focusing on active lifestyles,” Liz
Sotherland said.
One of the biggest benefits of the new location is
that it’s tucked away from view. It’s the corner of
the repair shop where John Sotherland has set up
his tools to fabricate steel tubes into precision bicycles, the kind that attract purists from Louisiana
and California.
42
opening spread: This gorgeous Sotherland rando bike, painted by Sanchez Paintshop, was built for
Erin Lane of Wallingford Bicycle Parts; above: The move across the street for Bicyclewise allowed
them to add a Colectivo cafe where Jon Sotherland pulls expresso with the same care and precision
he uses when he builds frames; below: The shop also has room for their collection of vintage
frames, many built by Sotherland when he worked for Schwinn Paramount; bottom: Sotherland
went to Jason Sanchez, of Milwaukee’s Sanchez Paintshop for the flawless root beer float paint
combo on this frameset.
He can tend to his craft and mind the shop, observing
customers dropping off bikes for repairs or picking them
up. “Everything that comes in or goes out, I look at,” Sotherland said.
Prior to the move, Sotherland did nearly all of his fabricating in the shop attached to his home near Whitewater
Lake, about 12 miles away. There are a few steps in the
bike fabricating process that will remain in his home
shop: anytime he needs to strike a torch to braze joints,
for instance. But the new location provides him a bit
more convenience and keeps him close to his passion.
“Making bicycles is fun,” he said. “Having tools in my
hands, getting something to work out.”
Sotherland started building bikes years before he start-
ed selling them. A University of Wisconsin-Whitewater graduate, he started working at the Schwinn
Paramount factory in Waterford in the 1980s. Cutting metal, brazing joints, polishing and perfecting,
Sotherland learned the trade from experienced
craftsmen and developed a drive to precision that
has been described as “fiercely pragmatic.”
When the Paramount operation ended, both
John and Liz became integral parts of Waterford
Precision Bicycles—John in the shop and Liz out
front, managing the office, sales and supplies.
“The voice of Waterford is what they called me,”
Liz recalls.
With a college education in small business,
and entrepreneurial aspirations, the Sotherlands
looked to open their own shop in Whitewater and
found their starter home in 2001. Through the
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in the U.S. have held steady at roughly 15 to 18
million in recent years, the number of specialty
retail shops has dropped significantly, from
6,195 in 2000 to 4,089 in 2012, according to the
National Bicycle Dealers Association. That’s
nearly 2,000 businesses, like the Sotherlands’,
that have disappeared in a little over a decade.
In that same time, the college sweethearts,
now in their mid-50s, have built a business and
a lifestyle.
The keys, according to John: “Preparation
was one. Efficiency. Knowing when to ask for
help from experts. A strong work ethic and a
good business model.”
With their new shop, the Sotherlands could
add another: Create a place people want to be.
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years, John kept looking across the street at the
flower shop and coffee café.
“I always wanted this building,” he said. “It’s a
perfect building for a bike shop.”
When a for-sale sign went up out front in the
fall of 2012, John called the realtor that day. They
bought the building and opened in February, 2013.
With the hustle of moving and the typical demands
of running a small business, the Sotherlands took
off nine days—total—in 2013.
Philosophical about their purpose as bike shop
owners, the Sotherlands are also extremely practical. The profit margins on bikes and bike equipment are razor thin, especially in a brick-andmortar retail store. Customers visit, spend an hour
borrowing 30 years of wisdom the Sotherlands
have to share, then buy a bike online.
It’s a tough way to make a living. While bike sales
44
Moraine can stop in to rehydrate, refuel and recaffeinate, or talk bikes with John and Liz.
“It really is a mom and pop organization and
they’re very friendly and accommodating to
people of all financial means and types,” said
Tom Patterson, a 70-year-old college teacher
from Whitewater. “I go in there with my BMC
road bikes, and there are kids getting outfitted.
The last time I was in there, a whole family was
picking up bikes.
“I was happy to sit and watch that going on
and take my turn.”
That experience matches Liz Sotherland’s vision, one not rooted in economics but philosophy: “When we’re 90, what do we want to say we
gave our community, the lowest price or the best
experience and the encouragement to get outside? All around the world, bicycles transform
people’s lives. We believe in what we’re doing.”
this page: Sotherland
continues his decades
of experience with lugs,
tubing and a torch in his
small shop, reminiscent
of the early days of
cycling in Europe when
people went to small,
independent framebuilders at local bicycle shops
to get bespoke bicycles
built just for them.
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