Real Bicycles

Real Bicycles was a bicycle shop that used to be at 1063 Olive Drive. James continues to design and build human powered vehicles as an art form. He retired from the Davis Food Co-Op and can be seen on a cool four wheel prototype recumbent pedal powered machine. He and his son used to teach the frame building class at the Craft Center a few years back.

Notice from James Olson Lee: Real Bicycles is no longer in business as of 12-31-2011. We want to thank all our past customers for their wonderful support over the years. It was an amazing 9 years. We especially enjoyed having the frame building classes at the bike shop. Alas, the cost of the liability insurance coverage became unaffordable. Who knows?... perhaps in the distant future, in a galaxy far, far away... ;o)

See Also

• Bicycle Shops — other bike shops in Davis
• Bicycling — a good starting point for your bike-related inquiries

2006-12-06 15:02:01   Met the owner of Real Bikes yesterday. He used to be located on Olive drive, and was doing mobile repair for a while. They do custom frames. He and his son worked together until his son moved to Elk Grove. They still do the custom thing by appointment. Great guy. - Aaron.Curtin

2007-05-19 03:42:37   I spent a quarter or so taking a frame building class from James and JP at real bicycles and had a great time. Went from a blank piece of frame sized paper all the way through the design and fabrication process. Thanks to significant amounts of personal attention I ended up with a beautiful (granted much of the credit goes to the cycle art paint job) hardtail. I'd love to build another frame, but alas the shop is gone. There was always something interesting going on at real bicycles, classes, crazy projects, wild bikes, and interesting people. —BillBroadley

2007-08-07 18:48:29   I just spoke with James on the phone. Very nice guy. Helped me out with good advice even though he knew he wasn't going to sell me a bike. He said he only does custom frames now. —John.Downs