The Bike Lab is Plum's first-ever bicycle shop

Unity Plaza in Plum has undergone a resurgence over the past few years. One of the new businesses bringing customers to the plaza is The Bike Lab, which, according to Plum’s Chamber of Commerce, is the first-ever bike shop in the borough.

The Bike Lab opened approximately seven months ago, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. Owner Jim Yurek, a police officer, opened the business back in May despite not having any bikes to sell due to supply chain issues brought on by the pandemic.

Yurek owned a mobile bike repair shop prior to The Bike Lab, so originally his location at Unity Plaza was an extension of the repair business.

“It was a dream of mine to own a ski or a bike shop in my adulthood,” Yurek said. “But obviously, my law enforcement career of 20 years took precedence.”

The Bike Lab is more than just a place to buy a bike though, as Yurek wants it to have a coffee shop vibe. He currently gives away free coffee at the shop and set-up a living room of sorts where customers can hang out with Yurek’s top employees, his two labradors.

The dogs, named Oscar (chocolate lab) and Tucker (yellow lab) are the origin of The Bike Lab name, with Oscar being the dog featured in the logo. Yurek feels that the dogs help create that community vibe and separate his shop from other bike shops in the area.

“I felt this side of the county lacked a coffee shop vibe, community-oriented bike shop,” said Yurek. “After going to several bike shops in Colorado, this is the vibe I wanted to create.”

It’s a good time for opening a bike shop, as the pandemic has caused interest in the hobby to skyrocket. Forbes and the BBC estimate that this is the most popular biking has been since the 1970s, even more popular than the mountain bike boom of the 1980s.

Yurek’s interest in biking expands well past his shop and into the sport and hobby of biking. He is the assistant director of Pittsburgh East Mountain Biking. All of his children have participated on the biking team, which is located around the western Pennsylvania area but is comprised of bikers mainly from Plum.

“Half of our ridership does not race,” Yurek said. “It’s about more kids being on bicycles – that’s literally our team’s hashtag.”

Yurek’s interest in expanding the profile of biking in Plum expands to the nonprofit sector, where he has helped launch the Battle to Bikes foundation. The charity’s goal is to give veterans bicycles to help deal with PTSD or mental health issues.

The idea stems from one of Yurek’s friends, Andrew ‘Drew’ Slaugenhaupt, who has used biking to help deal with his own PTSD from combat. Slaugenhaupt can often be seen helping out around the Bike Lab, a place where he feels comfortable, despite his PTSD.

“When Jim met me, I was going through a lot of my disabilities from the military and trying to figure out what I wanted to do,” Slaugenhaupt said. “But also, biking was therapeutic for me. I got into biking because of my PTSD and anxiety.”

While Slaugenhaupt is not on the board of directors, he is serving as an advisor to the board for Battle to Bikes.

The Bike Lab, meanwhile, hopes to have the same growth that Unity Plaza has seen over the past few years – with the ultimate goal of connecting Plum with Yurek’s love for biking.