Rhythm Bike Shop’s upstairs showroom is now open to the public. It has bikes, gear and apparel. It can accessed through the same entrance as The Daily Mining Gazette at 206 Shelden Ave. (Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Rhythm Bike Shop opened its upstairs showroom last week to the public. After a few months of renovation, a new window installation and lettering on the front of the building, customers can now access the shop through the Shelden Avenue entrance — in the same building as the The Daily Mining Gazette. 

Bike Shop Manager Marc Rea said the concept behind the upstairs section of the store was to showcase the best clothing and bikes Rhythm has to offer. 

“The upstairs portion of the store is going to be a retail focused showroom for our bikes,” he said. “We print 90 percent of the stuff we have in here on display — in-house. So, we’re going to be a retail heavy clothing line with some bikes on display upstairs.”

The majority of the new retail on display is clothing. Everything from jerseys, flannels, hoodies, sweaters, shirts and hats. A good majority of the clothing is branded with U.P. iconography. Rea said the memorabilia can appeal to both tourists and locals. 

“We have different things to offer,” he said. “I think a lot of the locals [like] the rhythm stuff, the trail name shirts that we have,” he said. “As far as the tourists goes, a lot of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Lake Superior, that kind of stuff — they don’t have access to from wherever they’re coming from.”

While the majority of Rhythm’s bike selection is still downstairs, its showcase upstairs gives a sampling of what the store has to offer bike-wise. Rea said every type of rider and customer is welcome to look at what Rhythm has to offer, 

“We have entry-level bikes, we have kids’ bikes and then we have all the way to some higher-end e-bikes,” he said.

According to Rea, the motivation behind the window replacement was better visibility for customers passing by or thru Shelden Avenue. 

“Ultimately, we wanted access from Shelden,” he said. “There’s a huge market that drives by every single day.”

Rhythm Bike Shop is open Monday thru Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Its main entrance can be accessed through 205 E Lakeshore Dr. Its showroom entrance is at 206 Shelden Ave., in the same building as The Gazette.