New Owner Gives Youngstown Cycle Tune-up

BOARDMAN, Ohio – For more than a decade, Adam Pratt has been a regular at Youngstown Cycle Supply. So when he heard the previous owner was getting ready to auction his inventory and close the store after 50 years, he felt he had to do something.

“I called him and said, ‘Hey, I heard this is going on, why don’t you just sell me the business?” Pratt recalled asking Jim Nadasky, the company’s founder. “It’s been around 50 years and it’s a staple in this area.” 

Every two weeks, Nadasky and Pratt would have a meeting to discuss the business, and things started to “get serious,” Pratt said.

“As the individual buying it, you’re terrified,” he said. “I watched a lot of videos where people were speaking motivational things to get me through that. Once I got in so far, I was like, ‘OK we’re doing this thing and we’re going to make it cool.’ ”

Two weeks ago, the business adopted the new name Youngstown Cycle and Speed and a grand opening will be held Oct. 19 at 6915 Market St. Pratt hopes Youngstown Cycle will be a destination location in the future.

The business sells motorcycle parts and riding gear for all makes and models, as well as servicing the machines. Pinstriping will also be available, with all proceeds from the paint jobs going to breast cancer research.

Pratt’s first experience with Youngstown Cycle was in 2008, when he was building his own motorcycle.

“I came in because I was looking for an old Triumph [motorcycle],” he recalled. “It was actually sitting in the back in pieces, so that got me established as being friends of theirs. I would come in and hang out on a Saturday or whenever.”

For the past five decades, Youngstown Cycle has been a motorcycle-only shop, Pratt said, offering hard-to-find parts for projects like his. With the business in the hands of Pratt, alongside Matt Krawchyk, founder of Street Steel in Columbiana, they are going for a “vintage feel” in the store and will be adding cars to the picture. 

“Adam brought me on more so for the car, hot rod end of it,” Krawchyk said. “Not that I’m not into bikes, but I’m a little bit more into the cars and hot rods. Air ride suspension and all of the custom work done on cars, so hopefully I’ll be focusing on that stuff.”

Eventually, Krawchyk sees Youngstown Cycle and Speed being a place with decorative pieces and furniture showcasing autos – the cars, hot rods and bikes and even four-by-fours. 

“The whole automotive industry,” Krawchyk said. “I want it to be a cool place to walk into and see stuff hanging on the walls, vintage stuff, new stuff and make it a place where people can come and just hangout and talk shop.” 

When Krawchyk was approached about coming on board with Pratt, he did his research on Youngstown Cycle, he said. He was able to get a vibe about what the business was like in its heyday and he got a good response from people he spoke with, including older customers, Krawchyk added. 

“We have antiques sitting around here and we’ll constantly be pulling that stuff in to get that old vibe,” Pratt said. “We’re going to have a couple TVs that will be playing old hot rod and motorcycle movies from the ‘60s and ‘70s for our customers.” 

Alongside Pratt, Krawchyk will not only be doing work with cars and hot rods, but he will include his works of steel cutouts into the business.

“We’re going to try to do cool, decorative pieces to sell. We’re going to try to service the air ride suspension industry or market it in this area because there’s really nobody that does that here,” Krawchyk said. “It’s all mail order and you have to wait a week for your parts.”

In 2016, Pratt lost his job working on Jeeps, he said, though he continued to work from home. In that time, though, he noticed something was missing. To make extra money, he started to bring back his airbrush business while collaborating with Krawchyk.

“He cut out stuff and I started airbrushing them, so Matt and I started blowing up with that,” Pratt said. 

In the future, Pratt wants to be able to not only airbrush steel cutouts from Krawchyk, but the store’s ceiling tiles as well, he said. 

There has been a lot of out-of-pocket investment into the business, Pratt said. As far as physical changes, the entire building was painted and the carpets have been steam cleaned. With the help of his fiancée, Brianna Windon, friends and family, Pratt was able to get the store looking brand new again, he said.

The building will also house two other businesses, both on the upper floor. One will be a mobile breast cancer services company and the other a hair stylist.

So far, Pratt has already experienced people hanging out in the store, he said.

“It’s older guys that just want to come in and hang out, and they talk about the old days,” Pratt said. “I love it because teaches me stuff. Some of them are old customers.”

Other plans are to have a motorcycle and classic car show in the parking lot next door at Boardman United Methodist Church, Pratt said. Next spring, Pratt wants to have major events once or twice a month, such as a bike night, poker run or classic car scavenger hunt, he added. 

“Our plan is to just come in and kick butt,” Pratt said. “I want something with a cool vibe and retro.”

Pictured: Youngstown Cycle and Speed owner Adam Pratt and Matt Krawchyk will celebrate the store’s grand re-opening Oct. 19.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.