Patagonia Bikes proprietor Noe Mencias is conducting what can be called a “soft opening” in the old Patagonia Visitor Center shop on the corner of McKeown and Third Ave.
Prior to 2024, Mencias had been repairing and reconditioning bikes out of a quiet shed on Smelter Alley behind the Patagonia Lumber Company’s shop for almost two years. In January 2024, Mencias leased the corner shop, formerly an art gallery, and began opening his doors to the public. In September, he finally hung a big ‘Patagonia Bikes’ sign in front of the shop but refrained from conducting the usual advertising/social media blitz or holding a flashy grand opening party. Instead, Mencias has elected to allow customers to slowly, organically find him at his high-visibility corner in “downtown” Patagonia.
“People are giving me good feedback,” Mencias said. “They like having my shop here.” He guesses that 80% of his customers are visitors and 20% locals. He appreciates that the locals help him spread out the repair work throughout the year.
The shop is open Friday-Sunday. In addition to the repair and reconditioning work, Patagonia Bikes carries parts and patching kits. He doesn’t plan to have a new bicycle showroom, but has begun offering bike rentals so that customers can “try before you buy.” One is a tandem Schwinn, often on display in front of the shop.
Mencias is also able to service e-bikes and is optimistic about their future in helping people explore the Patagonia area. One part of his resume that makes it easy for Mencias to adapt to working with the electric parts and controls of e-bikes is his experience working at Tesla.
Moving through the world on two wheels—any kind of cycling—is in Mencias’ blood; he calls being on two wheels his “tool for freedom.” He’s got stories of world travels where he’d trade repair work for use of local bicycles.
Asked about the kinds of riding he likes best, gravel seems a favorite, though he’s done plenty of road riding as well. He had an earlier phase of stunt riding on BMX bicycles. As evidence of that phase, he showed his banged-up and scarred shins.
The BMX years were a natural transition into running his first cycle shop, Cicli Noe, in the four years before the pandemic hit. Located in a South Tucson storefront, Cicli Noe was bilingual and repair oriented. Around the corner was a mural by Mencias’ friend, muralist Rock Martinez, depicting a southwest street scene with the caption “Look out for each other”/“Hay que cuidarnos entre nosotros.” Despite South Tucson’s good side, Mencias is glad to have left the drug flow and government corruption.
At the Patagonia shop, there’s a mural on the Third Avenue side of the shop, commissioned by the previous tenant, painter Kat Cudney, featuring a hummingbird medallion. Mencias is toying with preserving at least that hummer vs something new by Rock Martinez.
The caring for each other that’s such a deep part of the Patagonia community is a major attraction for Mencias. He’s fascinated by the variety of people he gets to talk with, honored to have this shop which was previously the town’s Visitors’ Center.
Listening is central to Mencias’ approach to the world—listening to people, and to the muses. He’s inspired by the classic Chinese text “The Art of War,” by Sun Tzu. From it he takes inspiration about self-knowledge and understanding the people he deals with. The book also has inspiration about making forward moves when the time is right, and this informs Mencias’ approach to the evolution of his business. Not schooled in classical business planning, he does not use terms like “investment capital” and “targeted marketing.”
Perhaps in line with “The Art of War’s” recommendation to do the unexpected, Mencias is considering displaying art on the walls of the former gallery, and he is proposing to offer espresso in Patagonia Bikes’ back room. Mencias wants to offer a single beverage, using beans from Tucson’s Presta Coffee, with no elaborate beverage menu. His proposal is coming up for a Town use permit review in December.