maine bike works

your touring, adventure bike and tandem focused oasis of simplicity in a desert of unnecessary complication

home of Analog Adventuring since MMXV

wed to sat 10-5

885 portland road, saco

207.590.8903

want a $1,000 signing bonus and get paid to work on the nerdiest bikes around? :)

WORKSHOP UPDATE STARDATE THURSDAY 29TH 2022 :
all our service / repair slots are filled. boo.

our service area is booked up for repairs and upgrades while we work our way through projects we've already promised folks. if you need a repair or are thinking about having us make upgrades to your bike, please reach out to us in advance of bringing your bike in as we'd hate for you to go through all the trouble of loading it up in the car and humping it down to Saco only for us to tell you we're all booked out.

happy to answer any questions you may have in the meantime though.

btw, we're still getting folks out riding on new bikes super fast. we have bikes in our showroom and bunches of new bikes in boxes just waiting for someone to ask us to build them up. if you don't see your size or model listed HERE, get in touch as we're able to order in and assemble a whole host of new gravel, touring and adventure bikes in about week or so once we help you pick something out. so reach out to chat about your adventure plans and let us help you get rolling.

bbtw, in an abundance of caution so that we don't over-commit ourselves during these busy times and in light of all the custom frame-up builds we've already promised folks this Fall, we probably won't be accepting any new frame-up builds, wheel builds, modifications to stock bikes or chunky upgrade projects to folks'current bikes until later October (yup, sorry). get in touch to chat about your project and we'll give you a better idea of timing.

don't let the bummer news above lead you to believe we can't get you rolling on something new ASAP however as ready-to-ride-stock-bikes, ready-to-ride-stock-bikes-still-in-their-boxes and bare-framesets-that-you-can-build-up-at-home are all rearing to go and listed here. so if you need to ride asap on a new bike or want to buy a frameset and build it yourself, we got you.

** oh yeah, before we let you go, let's end on an up note... did you see bikepacking.com recently featured one of our local bike adventurers and the bike we built for him? **

what's
maine bike works?

a relaxed, attitude-free bike shop serving all of new england.

maine bike works is a small by choice, owner run shop whose aim is to become new england's nerdiest touring, bikepacking, adventuring and tandeming destination while continuing to offer the custom builds and fair repair services our reputation was built on.

to help you find your next n+1 (or n+2 if you're after a tandem), we draw on bikes from our buddies at Rivendell, Co-Motion Cycles, OPEN Cycle, Salsa, Bianchi, Kona, Surly, Crust, Velo Orange, Rodeo as well as 80 other brands and (get this) we aim to stock some alternative drivetrained bikes you can demo and test ride built up with Rohloff Speedhubs, Pinion Gearboxes and Gates Carbon Belt Drives - yup, you read that right. fyi, our bikes usually start around $1k (not for snobby reasons though, read below for why).

if you are looking for something different we also offer collaborative builds from the frame up, teach repair classes and offer bench/tool hire to those wanting to become one with their own bikes.

if you need a repair done fast & for a fair price, there's no better place to bring your bike.

hours, directions and contact info

got a bike you want gone?

it starts with you

you dream it up, we'll bring it to life

to think that you trust us to bring with your new two-wheeled best friend to fruition means a lot to us and we don't take that responsibility lightly.

no matter if you're looking for a production bike from one of the 91 or so brands we represent or if you want to work with us to build up a Radavist / Bikepacking.com worthy rig by collaboratively picking out every nut and bolt we hang on your new frame, we treat your n+1 as if it were our own.

you make working at maine bike works the best place in the world to spend our waking hours.

you rock!

fyi, view a few prior builds your fellow adventurers have entrusted to us here:

#MaineBikeWorksHasTheBestCustomers

top

our proclivities

what are yours?

if you enjoy chatting about bikes in a relaxed, non-competitive, no-upsmanship allowed atmosphere you may dig mbw.

if you enjoy being around folks who could care less about how much your bike cost or what style of machine you're on, you may dig mbw.

if you enjoy riding your tandem down the eastern trail or adventures further afield, you may dig mbw.

if you've ever dreamed of quitting your job on a friday and riding your bike across the country on a Saturday, you may dig mbw.

if you enjoy strapping a bunch of gear on your bike and heading out into the woods for a quick overnight-er before you head back to work smelling of wood-smoke and bourbon the next morning, you may dig mbw.

if you value friendliness, personalized attention and a desire to do the right thing over a commodity and transactional focused 'stack-em-high, sell-em-low' raison d'etre, you may dig mbw.

top

our bike selling philosophy

cause more choices for you are a good thing, amirite?

when it comes to selling bikes, MBW does things a smidge differently than the traditional shops.

instead of stocking dozens or hundreds of bikes and frames from just 1 or 2 makers, we do the exact opposite and intentionally only stock a few carefully curated favorites from 91+ brands for your sizing and test riding purposes. by custom ordering 99.9% of the bikes and frame-up builds we sell, we're under zilch financial pressure to limit your choice to only the bikes we have in stock and the way a manufacturer specs out a bike from the factory is just the jumping off point for customizing the build for your riding and aesthetic style.

when your new two-wheeled best friend arrives (usually 1-5 days after you pull the trigger), we'll build it for free or you can build it with us during a collaborative MBW Build-Your-Own-Bike-Session (complete bikes only, not more involved frame-up builds).* [top tip: we charge $400 to get hands-on, but complete bikes which are $3,500k+ qualify you to get greasy with us gratis.] * temporarily suspended due to COVID - booo :(

top

bike brands

not ordinary bikes for not ordinary adventures

we sell kick-ass bikes, tandems and frames from:

Rivendell Bikes (click for dets)

Co-Motion Cycles (click for dets)

Salsa Cycles

Bianchi

Kona Bikes

Surly

and 84+ other brands!

>> click for full list <<

All-City Cycles<
Austro-Daimler
Batch Bicycles
Bianchi
Bike Friday
Bilenky Cycle Works
Black Mountain Cycles
Bombtrack Bicycle Co
Borealis Fat Bikes
Brooklyn Bicycle Co.
Brother Cycles
Burly Bikes
Calfee Design
Cinelli
Civia
Co-Motion Cycles
Corvd Cycles
Crust Bikes
Cycles Chinook
Dahon
da Vinci Designs
Dean Titanium Bikes
Del Sol
Detroit Bikes
Diamondback Bicycles
DMR Bikes
Early Rider
Eddy Merckx
Evo Bicycle
Fairdale Bikes
Fatback Bikes
Framed Bikes
Free Agent
Fuji Bikes
Fyxation Bicycles
Greenstar Bamboo Bikes
Growler Bikes
Haro
HEad
Independent Fabrications
Jones (Bars Only)
Kazam Balance Bikes
KHS Bicycles
Kidz Tandems
Kona Bicycle Company
Lauf Bikes and Forks
Look Cycle
Manhattan Cruisers
Masi
Montague Folding Bikes
Moots
Moulton Bicycle Company
New Albion Cycles
Niner Bicycles
No. 22 Bicycles
NS Bikes
Octane One
Origin8
OPEN Cycle
Otso Cycles
Pake Bikes
Pashley Cycles
Priority Bicycles
Radio Bike Co
Raleigh
Redline Bicycles
Reid Bikes
Retrospec
Ridley Bikes
Ritchey
Rivendell Bicycle Works
Rodeo Adventure Labs
Salsa Cycles
Santana Cycles
SimWorks
Soma Fabrications
Stooge Cycles
Strider Bikes
Surly Bikes
Thesis Bike
Tumbleweed Bicycle Co.
Tern Bicycles
VAAST Bikes
Van Dessel Cycles
Ventana USA<
Velo Orange
Why Cycles

fyi: we've found our non-snobby, time-intensive, highly-personal approach doesn't allow us to be able to afford to sell bikes under $1k. we understand that not everyone wants (or can) spend more than a month's rent on a luxury item like a bike, so if that's you, get in touch and we'll be happy to point you towards one of the more traditional shops in our area. top tip: no matter where you buy your next bike , we'd love to be the folks you trust to keep it running sweet!

top

repairs & upgrades

your choice: we'll fix your bike or you can work on it yourself * temporarily suspended due to COVID - booo :(

say what? why in the name of alpe d'huez would a bike shop encourage its customers to use its tools?

simple, really. we know how much fun it can be to build and fix our own bikes and soon you will too!

one of the main reasons we started mbw was because we personally wanted a well stocked, professionally equipped place to work on our own bikes and after years of wrenching in shops which had "no-customers-in-the-workshop" policies, we decided someone should give our fellow riders a break and let them in on the fun.

being able to offering this type of access is expensive, so expect to pay to play in the shop.

in those instances where you lack the time or inclination to work on your own bike, we'd love to do it for you.*

* sorry, we don't work on e-bikes or bikes with any motors unless we originally built and sold it :(

more about our repair / upgrade options and prices.

top

services

all this and a bag of chips. *

* some of these chips have been temporarily suspended due to COVID - booo :(

bike repair

quick professional service without the attitude

diy & fix-it-yourself repair

use our tools and equipment and work on your own bike

bikes which other shops ignore

yup, take a few for a spin

advice for a price

let us help you with your bike related dilemma

touring & bikepacker bling

a selection of essential bike adventuring accessories

repair instruction

hands-on lessons on what you want to learn

bike shipping

we'll box up and send your bike anywhere you want

buffoonery

because we realize we pump up bike tires for a living

co-operative bike builds

let's build your next bike together using your parts or ours

instockery

you're in luck. we have the following ready to ride or waiting to build for you*

* during COVID, we've decided to stock 10x our normal amount of our favorite frames and as many of our core complete bikes as we can get our hands on to ensure that we can always get folks riding. so if you're looking for a gravel, touring, bikepacking or adventure bike and a $3k+ price tag doesn't scare you off, then we'll undoubtedly have something to get you out riding on ASAP for a pre-built bike currently on our showroom floor or within a couple weeks if we're building you a new ride part, by part from the frame-up.

just don't think the following boxes contain exhaustive lists of what we can get you by any means. we're a custom shop through and through, so just bring us your adventure and we'll recommend, source and build you the perfect, just-for-you bike - no matter if it's something in our showroom today or we have to tell you you'll need to wait a few months for the perfect ride to become available again. we also special order in many, many, many of our bikes for our customers and none of those bikes will ever be recorded on these lists. all this is confusing we know, so we'd love to walk you through it, to start the conversation shooting us an email and we'll walk you though what we have today as well as what we'll be getting tomorrow and beyond.

frames we can start building up for you today
(in our busy spring and fall seasons get in touch to find out timing as we're slower then):

** for descriptions of the various build packages we offer on the frames below and the rough prices of each, click here to view our overly wordy CL listing where we attempted to flesh some of that info out. **

ultimately, for specifics and help with sizing, just call or email in. we'd love to hear more about whatever adventure you're planning and walk you through our custom build process to help you decide if that's the direction you'd like to go. oh yeah, don't assume that we can only get you frames on this list, this is just a conversation starter.

complete bikes in our inventory:

if your budget doesn't quite extend to a custom build or you don't have the two+ weeks it takes us to complete a custom rig, here's a list of in-stock bikes we can get you riding on ASAP. FYI, we try to have one of each built up in our showroom and the rest are in boxes in our backroom, so if see something on this list that you want to test ride, make sure you call or email before visiting as we'd hate for you to make a long drive only to find out the bike you wanted is still in a box or just sold etc.

it's also worth noting that we usually have 6-10 customer builds in various states of completion in the shop at any one time, so even though the bike you are interested in isn't listed in the scrolly boxes above, it doesn't mean that we don't have one in the shop to show you, the same goes for bikes that we know will be arriving in the very near future. basically, if you're looking for something specific, drop us a line as we can quickly let you know both the short and long term prospects of getting it in for you. love us a challenge!

latest

who knows what we'll be up to next? you will that's who.

twitter

we don't use venture much into the dumpster fire that is twitter anymore, so if you see us tweet again, you know the apocalypse has finally arrived and we've skedaddled into the north maine woods on our bug-out bikes.

Tweets by @mainebikeworks

Facebook

likewise, fb ain't what it use to be for small businesses, so while we post pictures there it's rare for our posts to be seen even by our followers. note: send us an email instead of via FB as we no longer check the fb inbox and fb itself doesn't offer a function to turn fb Messenger off.

Maine Bike Works

Photos

we hang out instagram most of all these days, though if you want to ask us a question, it's still best to email it in rather than sending us a message via ig as we like to be able to send you links, spreadsheets and pictures while we chat.

contact dets.

email in. call in. ride in.

our inconvenient hours

we're in a sweet spot and we're not talking about location. we're talking about the type of sweet spot where we have a blast at what we do for a living while also having enough time and energy for our own bike adventures when the shop is closed. our admittedly less than convenient shop hours allow us to provide unusual one-on-one personalized attention compared to the more traditional approaches you'll experience from the regional chains. if you're able to wait until we're next open, be assured that the time we spend with you in the shop will be fun, fair and productive. till then!

current hours:

monday: goofing around on bikes
tuesday: goofing around on bikes
wednesday: 10-5
thursday: 10-5
friday: 10-5
saturday: 10-5
sunday: goofing around on bikes

check and feeds for last minute changes to opening and closing times.

here are the hours maine bike works is open

contact us

maine bike works, llc
885 portland road
(u.s. route 1 across from Ira Jack Chevrolet Cadillac)
saco, me 04072

207.590.8903 <-tap to call
(always best to check out hours to the left first. fyi, we try not to be rude when we're helping people face-to-face, so we generally don't answer the phone if we're already engaged with folks in the shop. if that's the case, just leave a message and we'll call ya back when we're freed up - promise!)

instagram.com/mainebikeworks
facebook.com/mainebikeworks [fb is a hot mess and a depressing place to boot, brighten our day by emailing us instead]
mainebikeworks [by appointment as we'd have to find our username and password]
twitter/mainebikeworks [just hearing the t-word sucks out our life energy, so we don't much use it anymore - we love emails though!]

a Google map of maine bike works's location at 885 Portland Road, Saco, Maine

our inconvenient location

located in saco, maine on u.s. route 1. click the map above or type 885 portland road, saco (better known as u.s. route 1) into your GPS. located immediately across the street from the Chevrolet & Cadillac dealer and its giant American flag, the shop is 1/4 mile south of the cascade road and 1 1/4 miles south of the scarborough line.

minutes from i-95, downtown saco, old orchard beach and scarborough. 10 mins south of the fair city of portland. 45 mins north of portsmouth, nh (yes, darn it, maine has a 5.5% sales tax on products, but we hope our winning personalities and maine's 0% tax on labor/services make up for the fact that physical stuff is cheaper in the granite state). 90 mins north of the big smoke known as boston, ma.

look for the big pink and black bicycle road sign in the sky and the matching 'bicycle repair' sign on our building.

there's plenty of free and tons of easy parking spaces. if you need assistance loading or unloading your bike from your car, come on in and say the word and we'll be happy to lend a hand!