History of High Gear
The year was 1976; Steve Alward and Doug Brawly escape
the hell of Phoenix and move to Prescott with an excited entrepreneurial
spirit. They pool together $500 dollars and some used bicycle components.
Doug found a small garage to rent, accessible only from the alley of Miller
Valley Road. Rent was $50 dollars a month - no water, no gas…
Thus, Back Street Bicycle Works began as an experiment.
After all, who would think a business would succeed with $500 dollars
starting capital. In case of failure, there were part time jobs to fall
back on. Steve worked for United Van Lines and Doug was a janitor at the
hospital. Things seemed to somehow work-out, though, in April of 1977
the shop was moved to a larger building on Miller Valley Road. A name
change for the business was also necessary, so Back Street Bikes became
High Gear Bike Shop. Doug later moved on and left Steve as the sole proprietor.
In 1989 the business was again moved to Iron Springs Road - better building,
more visibility and good parking, but the business soon outgrew this facility
and in 1993 a second store, High Gear East, was opened in Frontier Village.
This proved to be not such a hot idea. However, before
financial limits were reached the business was saved by another move to
the current location on Sheldon and Mount Vernon. This wasn't an easy
move, as the house needed restoration and the building had to be gutted
and re-modeled, but thanks to tireless efforts from Steve and Cindy Lee,
High Gear today is a business in "High Gear"!