Hello World

mack’s bike and goods - evanston, il

Hello world bikes all started when…

My name is Sam Mack and I have been in bike shops in the Chicago area over twenty years, starting in shops when I was thirteen years old sweeping floors and catching the cycling bug. I knew very quickly the bike shop life was where I was truly happy. Creating, fixing, learning, the “next build” was always around the corner for me and I never stop thinking about the next one. 

After working in shops all throughout college, I was able to pool some money together and open a shop with a business partner at 22 years old. I spent 8 years working in a partnership and continuing to learn. One of the most important lessons I learned was during that time was too curate a local shop with brands I truly believe in and I am passionate about. Pair that with the confidence boost I needed from my loving wife, Kelly, and the birth of my first child, Leo, it was time to open a shop in our neighborhood.

After months of work (and figuring out how to raise our first-born), Kelly and I opened Mack’s Bike and Goods in our neighborhood in Evanston, IL on March 13th 2020. Yup, that March 13th. March of 2020. Years of preparation, careful planning, and gut instinct lead us to this day and we get slapped in the face with uncertainty as COVID-19 quickly turned our world upside down. 

Two and a half years later and lots of scrambling and getting lucky with an amazing crew, I think we have figured out how to run a retail business in a global pandemic. Kelly and I are pleased to say we have a successful, inspired, tasteful, and exciting full service bicycle shop that hopes to continue inspiring others to enjoy bikes and riding bikes as much as we do.

First and foremost, we are a neighborhood shop that services all types of bikes. Additionally, we also love bringing our passion for not only our products but a positive and fun client experience. Our mantra is to treat people the way we want to be treated… Providing quality products and making people smile is truly what I love about our business. We strive to make peoples bicycle dreams come true daily. We have also been very inspired by other shops around the the world like GSC, Golden Pliers, BlueLug, King Cog, Ponderosa, and our dear friends up the road at Velosmith Bicycle Studio to name a few. All of this inspiration, decades of experience in the bicycle shops, and a need to continue pushing myself out of my comfort zone led us to this next adventure. 

We recently decided to make a few frames for our shop after collaborating and working with the talented craftspeople at Waterford Precision Cycles in Waterford, Wisconsin. Handmade in the USA by the skilled team at Waterford Precision Cycles, this bike is a culmination of everything we love about cycling.

We have been calling it the “Hello World” bike, after several month of working on the idea and we are very pleased with how version 1.0 has turned out. 

I designed this bike to be as useful as it is elegant. Load it up and ride it across the country or grab it and ride down to the local coffee shop. My passion has helped me realize that comfort and dynamics can mesh ever so nicely with style and practicality. 

We are NOT re-inventing anything here. Our aim is to provide a versatile platform that is made with passion and precision.

The bike was built for everyday use and is built not only to last but to change with your desired riding. Able to be setup in a multitude of different ways the Hello World is able to ride correctly with drop bars or sweep handlebars not to mention all the braze-ons to mount all of your accessories. 

Built on a 650b platform inspired by French touring bikes of the 40’s and 50’s. It is built with slightly longer top tube than usual to accommodate different handlebar configurations and slight longer chainstays for stability. A slightly sloping top tube is used for more stand over but not too much to keep with its randonneuring roots. 

I hand picked each piece of the bike to my liking using parts I have loved and used for years. I have set up two handlebar configurations using Paul moon units for the cable yokes on each set to give me the ability to switch from sweep bars to drop bars with a single tool and one stem bolt. 

Nitto has always been my favorite bicycle brand as they have so much class and are handmade, oh and pair nicely with a set of Berthoud handmade bags. These are my first set, and so far I am pleased with the quality.

The rest of the build speaks for itself as all the parts are highly functional, very serviceable, strong, and are esthetically pleasing. After all form follows function. 

We at Mack’s are elated with how our community (both near and far) has accepted our crazy, fun, outgoing vibes into our neighborhood and we are so excited for all of the “next builds” we have coming in the future!

Thank you for all the amazing feedback we have received already and can’t wait to share our passion with the world! 

For more info call, text, email, DM, stop on in the shop to see it in person and give it a spin!

Sam Mack 

Mack’s Bike and Goods