Agee’s Bicycle Co. rolls into family’s fourth generation

Henry Liscio still has the tri-wheeler bike he bought at Agee's Bicycle Co. 41 years ago.

The unusual vehicle is a prototype of a commuter bicycle designed and built in Japan for Schwinn.

"It's a very high-tech bike," the 56-year-old Liscio said.

Over the years, Liscio has bought more than a dozen bicycles from Agee's, everything from road racing to tandem models.

"The Agees are quintessential retailers," Liscio said, referring to the family that owns the three-store local chain.

As retailers, "you have to like people, and they do. And you have to be hard-working, and they are. They are very honest and very service-oriented."

Louis Agee started West End Bicycles, now Agee's, in 1910 in the Byrd Park area. His main focus was bicycle repair, but he later sold bicycles.

He eventually moved into a storefront at 3162 W. Cary St. The company's current location, at 3116 W. Cary, is its third in Carytown.

"With each location on West Cary, the company became larger," said Bill Agee, the company's vice president and the founder's grandson.

Bill Agee's father, Monty, became principal of the company in the late 1930s, when he was in his mid-teens. He started racing bikes at 12. In 1938, just before taking over the business, he won a bike race from Charlottesville to Richmond.

"He was very successful in his bike racing," Bill Agee said. "My grandfather supported him through that. Even when he was racing, Dad still worked in the shop."

Bill Agee and his older brother, Monty Agee Jr., started their careers with the company in the late 1950s. Bill was 8 at the time; Monty Jr. was 11.

"We would clean bikes and do tube repair," Bill Agee recalled.

When the two graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1972, both worked full time at Agee's.

"It was a very busy time," Bill Agee said. "Business grew considerably in the 1960s and 1970s."

Interest in biking spiked with the introduction of the popular Schwinn Sting-Ray banana-seat bike and the Schwinn Varsity multispeed racer in the 1960s.

"There was a lot of growth," Bill Agee said. "It was the first time a multispeed racer was mass-produced in the U.S. We made the transition from cruiser bikes to lightweight, performance multispeed bikes."

To meet a growing demand, Agee's opened a second store, on Midlothian Turnpike, in 1974. A third location, on West Broad Street, was added in 1976.

His brother and mother, Annie, work in the West Broad store. "Mom is the president, and she keeps everybody in their place," Bill Agee said.

He and his son, Bill Agee Jr., 30, who started with the company at age 12, work at the Midlothian location.

"Bill Jr. followed the same path as I did," Bill Agee said. "He cleaned bikes, did tube repair, bike assembly and service."

His son's entrance into the business represents the fourth generation of the family to work at Agee's.

"You don't see that very often in any industry," said David Holland, territory manager for Raleigh Bicycle Co. in Kent, Wash.

He credits the company's success to its "high level of service and higher level of professionalism."

Agee's carries 10 brands of bikes, including Trek, Raleigh and Specialized. Prices range from $200 to $8,000.

"We sell the entire range," said Bill Agee, who rides a flat-bar Trek road bike.

During the past five years, Agee's has averaged 10 percent growth in annual sales.

That increase can be attributed, in part, to a renewed interest in biking because of cyclists such as seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Bill Agee said.

"Whenever he races, he creates a lot of interest," he said. "Also, a lot of people are using their bikes for utility use. They are trying to go green, and a bike fits that perfectly."

Additionally, an increasing number of adults are using bikes in their exercise programs. "A bike has been transformed from a toy to a means of fitness and health."

Repairs, he adds, remain a large part of the business.

"A lot of people get the bike they bought in the 1970s or'80s out of storage," he said. "We bring them back to life."