449 South Coast Highway 101 has been a bike shop for more than 25 years. The names on the door have changed — McDougall's, then Encinitas Bicycle Retailer, the shop where Electra Bicycle Company got its start — and in 2010 Brent Garrigus bought the business and renamed it RIDE Cyclery. The work, mostly, hasn't changed. People bring us bikes. We fix them right. They ride home.
That's the short version. Here's a little more.
McDougall's ran the bike shop on this stretch of 101 through the 1990s. In 2000, the building burned down. When it was rebuilt, McDougall's decided not to come back — and that's when Benno Bänziger and Jeano Erforth took over and opened Encinitas Bicycle Retailer. They had just started Electra Bicycle Company, and this was their first retail store: the beginning of Electra. From 2000 to about 2005 it was almost all Electra beach cruisers, with three to five going out the door on a good day.
Around 2005, Electra outgrew the store. Benno and Jeano stepped away from retail to focus on the brand, and Norm Breedlove — whose dad held the world land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats for years — took over Encinitas Bicycle Retailer. Norm added road and mountain bikes and ran the shop until 2010.
In 2010, Brent Garrigus bought it from Norm and made it RIDE Cyclery. Brent is an Arizona native who raced on a California team, coming out to train and race with his teammates on these same roads. The name was deliberate: four letters, no metaphor, just the thing the shop exists for.
Over RIDE's 16 years we grew to three stores: the original here in Encinitas, a Carlsbad shop under the world-famous chicken, and a one-of-a-kind boutique in the lobby of the Diamond View Tower, with our doors open to the outfield and the park at Petco Park.
In 2018 and 2019 we scaled back, closing Carlsbad and downtown to focus on the mothership in Encinitas. After COVID, and the bike-inventory whiplash that came with it, we pivoted in 2022 to what we do best: service.
Brent and Amie took over the shop in 2010. Six months later their son Skyler was born, and he spent his first months in a playpen at the store. Some customers still remember baby Skyler in the crib behind the counter. RIDE is a family business and a relationship business, and we love that connection.
Walk into most bike shops and the showroom hits you first — bikes on the floor, accessories on the walls, a service counter tucked somewhere in the back. We've flipped that. The service shop is the heartbeat of RIDE Cyclery, and it's the first thing we want you to find.
What that looks like in practice:
Online, we run the full vendor catalog — a deep selection of bikes, parts, and gear shipped direct from our vendor network. The physical shop stocks what we trust and what we service. The website carries everything else.
Every bike that rolls out of RIDE Cyclery passed through one of these sets of hands. Here's who you'll meet.
Owner
Brent has owned RIDE Cyclery since 2010. An Arizona native, he raced on a California team and spent years training and racing on these roads before making Encinitas home. He runs the shop the way he'd want a shop run if he were the customer walking through the door — fair, technical, no upsell, no pressure.
E-Bike Program Lead
Josh runs our eBike program. He has built one of the deepest Magnum-specific knowledge bases of any independent shop in California, and he extends that diagnostic mindset to every brand he touches — Aventon, Lectric, Rad, Super73, Specialized Turbo, Trek's eBike line, and the rest. Josh's first move is always a real diagnosis. He'll tell you what's wrong before he tells you what it costs, and he won't replace a battery, motor, or controller if the problem is actually a $4 connector.
Mechanic & Photographer
Eddie brings brakes back from the dead — bleeds, dialed mountain bikes, and the fussy adjustments most riders never notice until they're gone. He's been on two wheels since he could walk, and he pours that same intensity into every bike on the stand. He's also the eye behind much of RIDE's photography, so the bike he just tuned might end up looking as good as it rides.
449 S Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024 · (760) 632-1500 · Mon–Fri 10–6, Sat 10–5. Park off Highway 101 and walk in through the roll-up bay door.