Life & Work with Vince Casica

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vince Casica.

Hi Vince, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
From Cerritos, CA and I’ve been a bike mechanic for almost 20 years now. Born and raised in Quezon City Philippines then migrated to the US when I was 17. Met my wife Aimee Bondoc when we were in high school and now have two beautiful daughters. First really got into the bike business with my brother, buying and selling online as a side business to earn extra income for my family. I was so happy when I first doubled my profit. Started out learning about vintage road bikes first and what were popular at that time. Then moved on to BMX and Mountain bikes soon after. I would sometimes end up repairing the bikes if they were broken which surprisingly I enjoyed. I realized I loved tinkering with bikes that I ended up fixing my family’s and neighbors’ bikes too. My brother took me to bike swap meets and I met a lot of people in the industry including master bike mechanics, four people of whom took me under their wings and taught me most everything there was to know. I knew by this time this was something I wanted to pursue as it became my passion. I worked at a handful of bike shops and gained more knowledge along the way. A couple of years ago, my friend and I decided to open a bike shop. Due to irreconcilable differences, we ended up parting ways. A month later in Aug 2020, I opened up my own shop Vince’s Cyclery and I couldn’t be any happier. Having my own shop is a dream come true. With the help and support of my family, I was able to do this and thankfully, it’s been doing well that we’ve since expanded in Dec 2020, acquiring the unit next to ours as well.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There’s definitely been some struggles along the way and there still are currently. The main struggle is with inventory. With the bike industry being in high demand during this pandemic, supply of bikes and parts have been scarce. Another struggle we’ve encountered was exposure. It definitely took a lot of effort to be noticed, but with my wife’s assistance, we’re very pleased to say that we now have clientele. The community has been very supportive overall, supporting small businesses such as ours.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Being a bike mechanic for 20 years, I’ve worked for different dealers throughout the years. I’ve worked on all types of bikes such as road, MTB, and e-bikes, but I’ve been known to have a passion for vintage bikes and parts. I believe in the saying, if you’re going to it, do it well. This is what I strive to do on a daily basis, regardless who the customer is or what kind of bike they have. Providing the utmost best customer service is important to me. We do our best to make everyone feel at ease the moment they walk into our shop.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
My wife, Aimee Bondoc, has been my accomplice from the very beginning. Without her support, as well as my kids and relatives, I wouldn’t have the strength and courage to start my own business. Aimee has also resigned from her 9-5 job in order to help me grow our business together. She has been a huge help with marketing, advertising, and running our brick and mortar bike shop.

Pricing:

• Lifetime Tune Up Service included with all new bike purchases
• Basic Tune Up Service $59.99
• Tune and Clean Service $99.99
• Annual Tune Up Service $159.99

Contact Info:

• Email: vincescyclery@gmail.com
• Website: www.vincescyclery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vincescyclery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vincescyclery/