Rolling around town with Gonzo Cycles

Jonathan Porinsh has been steering the operations of Gonzo Cycles since last year. Locals and visitors alike drop into his shop for their cycle needs. The following interview with Porinsh cruises through some history and offerings of Gonzo Cycles. 

CVN: Where does the name Gonzo come from? 

Jonathan Porinsh: Gonzo Cycles is named after the original owner, Joaquin Gonzalez, aka “Gonzo.” 

When did you take over the shop and what drew you to do so? 

I bought the shop from Gonzo in 2022 with Frank Isaac and Philip Greene, who have since left the business. I love bikes and I have wanted to own a bike shop for a long time. Gonzo is a great guy with a big heart and we didn’t want him to go anywhere. We also wanted to keep a local bike shop in Carp. After the pandemic, Gonzo was looking for a buyer so he could get back to doing what he loves, which is wrenching on bikes, and I was presented with an opportunity to take over ownership and operations. I couldn’t be happier with the partnership.

Aside from bike and accessory sales, what services does your shop offer? 

We also rent and repair bikes. We offer full maintenance on most bikes. It’s pretty amazing how many people rent bikes during the summer. We have lots of folks who come to the campground and don’t want to haul all their bikes here and we also have people who come to Carp for the day and want to do a little exploring. We have pedal bikes for kids and adults as well as e-bikes. It’s the perfect way for anyone to cruise around and spend time in our beautiful little town. 

What do you think your customers most appreciate about your shop? 

I might be biased, but I think we have great service, and we are open seven days a week. We weren’t sure it would be cost effective to be open every day, but my goal was to make sure that anyone in Carp who needed something, whether a repair or an accessory, on their bike could always get that at our shop. I hope we’ve done a pretty good job so far.

Are you an avid cyclist? 

I am an avid cyclist, much to my wife’s chagrin. I think she let me buy a bike shop so I could have somewhere to store all my bikes. I love riding on the road and in the mountains and I recently purchased a trainer which allows me to turn my road bike into a stationary bike for workouts in the garage when it’s not great weather, or I need to get a real quick workout in.