Tulsa Bicycle Shop Gives New Life To Classic Bikes

Wouldn't it be wonderful to turn something you love into something you do? G. Oscar Herron has done that at his bike shop near downtown Tulsa.

He's made his mission giving old bikes new life and keeping folks riding without spending tons of money.

G. Oscar Bicycles is the most wonderful place. There are bikes of course - new and old, but so much other stuff too. 

Everywhere you look there is something interesting to see. 

"Putting it on a nail is easier than putting it in a box and under something," said G. Oscar Herron, of the tools, bicycle parts and collectibles lining his shop walls.

"If it's in a box you'll forget where you put it," he said, "and the boxes will accumulate."

So hang it up - I get it.

G. Oscar says his niche is breathing new life into old bikes.

"You feel almost like 'Doc Herron' in front of the shop taking in all comers," he said.

A new patient enters the store - he doesn't need a new bike, just a tune-up. Re-conditioning became the store's primary business - basically because no one else was doing it.

This isn't even what Herron considers his first love.

"This is in a way a hobby; my first love is photography," the bike store owner said.

In fact, he may best known for the photography. Bike work is a hobby he does every day. It's kind of the best of both worlds. 

"G. Oscar is the bike persona, and Gaylord Oscar Herron is the photographer persona," Herron said. "It's schizophrenic as can be, but I'm kind of enjoying it."

He enjoys it because he can be whoever suits him at the moment. Then there's the shop dog. Marley is a 15-year-old shih tzu who gets to be Marley every day. 

Herron calls Marley his number one salesman.

He says there's an easy way to teach anyone to ride a bike - imagine you're riding atop two gyros. 

"And they just want to keep you going straight ahead," said Tulsa bike store owner G. Oscar Herron. "You don't have to do anything but hang on and let the gyros do the work."

It works. He says his bike shop will teach you to ride and keep you riding – for a reasonable amount of money. 

The bike shop is open Tuesday through Saturday at 16th and Main in Tulsa.