Bike counts on Market Street show that bikes outnumber cars three to one. Sure, that was on Bike to Work Day, one of the busiest biking days of the year, but even an ordinary day there is still a sea of people pedaling down the green and protected lanes of Market Street.

With this incredible high concentration of cyclists, it’s no wonder that bike shops are opening up along the busy biking corridor. Last month, Huckleberry Bicyclescut the ribbon on their super stylish bike shop (and street side repair station) on Mid-Market, and this week another cool bike shop opened its doors on the bustling bikeway.

Market Street Cycles just opened up on the corner of Page and Market, one of the busiest bike intersections in the city (according to MTA bike counts). And it’s the prime real estate, corner property wedged between the Mission, Hayes Valley, and downtown that owners John McDonell and Matt Ames are hoping will make his bike shop thrive. That and their 30 years of experience running shops. 

Before venturing out on his own, McDonell managed the successful Divisadero bike shop, Mojo. He’s got deep ties to San Francisco’s cycling community, and San Francisco as a whole. John’s one of those rare born and bred San Franciscans. The placeholder for his website showed a picture of him as a 7-year-old riding BMX bike in San Francisco.

Basically, he was biking here before the bike lanes went in, before fixies became cool, before San Francisco became a world-class biking city. If you want to know the best on or off road bike route in the Bay Area, John can tell you it (and draw you a pretty sweet map to accompany it).

The shop is already proving to be a hit for locals. When I popped in yesterday on my way to work. Yes, down Market Street, McDonell was busy wrenching away on a single speed that needed a good tune up, and he had a commuter bike waiting in the wings. Not to mention the pile of boxes full of new bikes just waiting to be built.

Market Street Cycles is carrying some nice lines of bikes—mostly steel and classically pretty. John’s focusing primarily on Raleigh, which, with its huge array of bikes and gorgeous steel frames, is a good brand to focus on. Market Street Cycles is carrying a variety of bikes-- from cross to road. And, of course, plenty of nice commuter bikes—to cater to the crowds who pedal past his shop twice a day.