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Heritage Bicycles

Fully customized, American-made with American steel, hand-welded Heritage bikes are the talk of the town—and the toast of the neighborhood.

in Chicago, Crafts, Illinois Makers
October 10, 2016

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If you had asked fifth-generation Chicagoan Mike Salvatore what he wanted to do when he grew up, creating a handmade bicycle shop paired with a custom-roasted coffee emporium probably wouldn’t have made the top of his list—a notch below firefighter.

But the best-laid plans sometimes have to take a backseat to an original idea that’s simply too good not to create. Heritage Bicycles on Chicago’s Northside is just such a creation. If you think this is just another run-of-the-mill bike store, you don’t know what happens when American steel is forged in the aroma of freshly roasted Arabica beans.

Today, Mike’s fully-customized, hand-welded bikes are the toast of Chicago’s hippest neighborhoods. Staying true to Mike’s keep-it-in-the-hood mindset, he and his wife, Melissa, pair hand-crafted, made-to-order bikes with coffee making craftsmanship. Both made fresh daily.

Heritage is a mecca of what’s cool, where the cyclist, the artisan, the techie entrepreneur and the occasional beat poet meet over cups of Mike’s freshly roasted coffee. It’s that classic proud to be American-made storefront, transformed into an urban oasis for coffee aficionados and everyone in the neighborhood who just stops by to work and hang out.

Discover more Illinois artisans at Illinois Made.