Yojimbo's Garage

The building doesn’t look like much, but behind that red door lies an Aladdin’s Cave of track bike treasures, presided over by one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Yojimbo’s Garage is the shop, and Marcus is its owner, manager, master mechanic, coffee-drinker in chief.

The shop is stacked, literally, with everything a track racer or fixed-gear trickstar could ever want. An amazing range of frames, from the classic to the cutting edge, from the affordable to the expensive, hang from the ceiling. (He just got in some Dolan DF3s, for Jaysus’s sake!) An incredible array of components, from NJS stems to Phil hubs to San Marco saddles are strewn across every available surface in a storage system that probably only makes sense to Marcus. Throw in exclusive colour runs of Velocity rims, some track bike history on the walls, and, of course, Gary and Gracie, and you’ve got the best bike shop in Chicago. The best by a long way.

Marcus behind the counter of his shop, Yojimbo's Garage.

Just a small selection of the bikes at Yojimbo's Garage.

What can I say about the shop that hasn’t already been said? Everyone in Chicago already knows and loves Yojimbo’s. Cog did a feature on it in issue 2, and I already feel like I’m repeating a lot of what they said. But honestly, Yojimbo’s is a difficult shop to describe, because it’s not like most other bike shops. It’s unique. And even though, when you call, Marcus answers the phone with his familiar refrain of “Bike shop!”, Yojimbo’s is much more than a bike shop. It’s the center of the track scene in Chicago.

Frames, bottle cages, rims, wheels and boxes of B125s and B123s.

Colnago Pista in front of one of the component cabinets.

If you need to buy something, chances are Marcus has it. If you need to know something, chances are Marcus knows it. It doesn’t matter if you want to build a bike to do barspins, or if you need to know who the current Kilo record holder is, Marcus can help. If you want a full carbon cyclocross frame, well, Marcus has those too. One time a bunch of us were driving to Kenosha velodrome and we got lost, so we called Yojimbo’s and asked Marcus for directions… he had us there in minutes.

History above the door.

Gracie. The real boss.

Thoughtful, knowledgeable, helpful, Marcus will chat about bikes like it’s going out of style. His shop is amazing, and even the recent addition of Brean to the crew hasn’t managed to tarnish the shop’s reputation. Ha! On top of all that, Marcus has recently started a track racing development team for highschoolers, called Yojimbo’s Trackcats. Check out their team page here, and check back with me early next week for a full feature on the Trackcats.

Chicago is extremely lucky to have Yojimbo’s Garage. If you’re ever in Chicago, a trip to Yojimbo’s is an absolute must. I’m feckin’ serious. If I hear you’ve been to Chicago and not been to see Marcus, then I’ll be forced to administer a swift shoeing, the likes of which you won’t quickly forget. I’m not joking. Try me.

Yojimbo’s Garage
1310 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60610

www.yojimbosgarage.com