This bike shop is still going strong at 50 years, outlasting competitors with its ‘old school’ vibe

At 10 a.m. on any given Tuesday, a parade of cyclists wheel their bikes up the ramps behind the Erlton Bike Shop in Cherry Hill, looking for owners Rich Tustin, his son Aaron, or any of their crew.

The cyclists needs flats repaired, brake pads replaced, derailleurs aligned, and wheels straightened on road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids, cruisers, gravel bikes — and now electric bikes. Tuesdays are busy because the shop is closed Sundays and Mondays, so all those problems that pop up on weekend rides need attention.

“We’re an old school bike shop,” says Rich Tustin, 74, wearing a Burn Carbs, Not Gas! T-shirt. He keeps 400 bikes in stock and thousands of parts, including tires, inner tubes, brakes, calipers and wheels.

Rich and Aaron, 40, run the operation together, keeping it a family business with five employees, and sometimes up to nine depending on the season. Customers post upcoming group rides in the store, with some no doubt taking part in Saturday’s Philly Bike Ride, organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

Cherry Hill Mayor David Fleisher recently honored the shop with a township proclamation for its 50th anniversary this year, citing its previous owners, and the Tustins, noting the store’s “exemplary service” over the decades.

Once an employee of the store, Rich Tustin bought it in 2020 from the Hinski family. Peter Hinski died in 2015 at the age of 67, and his wife, a co-owner, Christine ran it until selling to Tustin.

The Hinskis had owned the shop since 1977, buying it from the original owner who only operated it for a few years.

Hinski served in the Navy as an engine mechanic, and later earned a teaching degree in industrial arts at what is now Rowan University in 1975. He and Christine earned the shop a solid reputation over the next decades. An avid cyclist, Peter Hinski would ride in the dead of winter with snow studded tires.

Meanwhile, Rich Tustin was developing his own chops as a mechanic, working for now defunct department stores, such as Bradlees, Kiddie City, Caldor, and Clover. He began working part-time for the Hinskis, and was eventually hired full-time.

“Back in the in the late 1990s, the Hinski’s needed help over the holidays putting bikes together for Christmas,” Tustin recalled. “I started helping them because a friend of mine was a full-time employee. They liked the work that I did so I started helping them out regularly. That progressed into my getting a full time job. I worked my way up to manage the place when Pete passed away. Chris decided she wanted to retire, and I purchased the shop.”

Erlton Bike Shop is busy spring, summer and fall but business slows dramatically in the winter. Although the shop sells bikes, repairs are its main business and Tustin keeps parts at a nearby storage location.

John Coyle, 74, of Haddonfield, rolled his Trek road bike into the shop one recent day after a fall ride. The retired Voorhees postmaster rides up to 6,000 miles a year. He knew the Hinskis, and kept coming to the shop after the Tustins purchased it. He also used to have his bike serviced at Danzeisen & Quigley, also on Route 70 in Cherry Hill, but that closed in 2019.

“There aren’t many bike shops left around,” Coyle said. “This is very convenient. The mechanics are good. I’ve had a relationship with these guys over the years. They’re good people.”

Indeed, Tustin, who lives in Tabernacle, tries to keep the mom and pop vibe that the Hinskis established when he was just an employee.

“I was really pleased to work for them,” Tustin said. “They had been here a long time and garnered a very good reputation. They needed a good, solid mechanic who was reliable. I filled that spot.”

He said Erlton Bike Shop pulls customers from around the area, including Philadelphia and the Shore.

“We’ve been around an awful long time,” said Tustin, who noted there used to be eight to 10 bike shops in the area. Now, there are only a few. Some chains, such as Dicks and REI offer bike repairs, but Tustin doesn’t really consider them competitors because he has such a strong local following.

That following grew during the pandemic. People anxious to get outside yanked dusty, rusted bikes out of sheds and garages. And all those old bikes needed repairs, or replacement, leading to a renewed boom in cycling that’s recently started to level off, Tustin said.

Now, there’s another craze: electric bikes, or E-bikes, which Tustin also sells.

“The problem with E-bikes,” Tustin said, “Is that most people are buying them online and finding out that when they bring them to me, I can’t find parts because they were made in China and there are no warehoused parts in America. So there’s no backup service.”

Bob Johnson, a longtime employee at the shop, agreed.

“There’s huge difference in quality in E-bikes,” Johnson said, while working in the back shop. “Somebody can buy a $400 bike, and somebody buys one for thousands. It’s the quality that matters.”

Bike mechanics need to evolve with technology. More bikes now have hydraulic brakes, instead of disc or older caliper brakes. Wireless gear shifters that work through Bluetooth are another trend.

The number of wheel sizes and styles have also exploded to fit so many different types of bikes. Tustin stocks hundreds of inner tubes to fit both schrader and presta valves.

“I started in the bike business in ‘84,” Tustin said. The biggest change I’ve seen is that bikes have become so varied. When I first started, there were 10 speeds, kids bikes, and cruisers. Mountain bikes started to creep in, with full suspension, hardtails and various degrees of that … There’s a niche now for everything. When I first started there was only type of brake. Now, you’ve got so many different types.”

Tustin owns the store, 50-50, with his son, Aaron, who graduated Rutgers with a degree in mechanical printmaking. Aaron began working at the shop in 2010 after his father “plucked” him to work there as soon as possible.

“I’m into mechanical things,” said Aaron, while examining a bike in the back. “I majored in printmaking because it was the most mechanical thing I could find.”

The plan is for him to takeover when his father retires. Aaron and Rich both credit the staff.

Without our team, we would absolutely not be here,” Aaron said, referring to Bob Johnson, the mechanic; Chris Gilvay, chief mechanic; Bob Gerber and his daughter, Rachel; and Jeff Hess and Bruce Armstrong.

And that staff, including the owners, are busy. Rich Tustin said he used to ride avidly, but doesn’t have time now.

“I still ride, but not as much as I’d like,” he said. “My job is to wave at you as you’re having fun and get back to work.”