World of Bikes keeps riding after 50 years in business

This story first appeared in the 2025 Cycling Guide, an annual special section aimed at telling the stories of the businesses, people and local efforts that have made The Corridor a cycling destination.

Dan Nidey opened World of Bikes as a small service shop on Capitol Street. Fifty years later, it’s an Iowa City staple that continues to move forward.

World of Bikes marked 50 years in business last year after opening in the fall of 1974. Cycling opened a world of opportunities for Nidey, taking him around the country and beyond.

“I had been a student at the University of Iowa for several years, just stumbling along not really too involved in being a student,” Nidey said.

Nidey had worked at other cycling shops in Iowa City before purchasing a few tools and a small amount of inventory from a store that was closing to start his own business.

The earliest iteration of World of Bikes was based in a small garage with Nidey providing repair services to local cyclers. Less than two years later, Nidey moved the shop to its current location at 723 S. Gilbert St., though it still shared the building early on. He remained focused on service, but he ultimately wanted to sell inventory.

“I was interested [in owning a store] because I became a bike rider back about that time,” Nidey recalled. “I enjoyed going on longer rides. I realized that was a hobby and maybe would be a vocation.”

The store evolved naturally, according to Nidey, as he came to appreciate the role a community plays in cycling. As a college town, Iowa City had a large number of riders. Some biked for transportation, zipping around campus and through downtown. Others did it for fun or for exercise, breaking free from the busy streets and onto trails and gravel roads.

Nidey was especially drawn to those who rode for sport, but he remained versatile, seeking to offer something for everyone.

“It became a whole concept store. Family, sport and community minded,” he said. “I realized how much community involvement bicycling needed. What can we do to support the community?”

Nineteen years ago, Nidey was ready to pass the store on to someone else. Again he looked to the cycling community that it was built around. A former employee and fellow cycling enthusiast, Ryan Baker, emerged as the ideal person to pass the torch to.

Baker worked at World of Bikes while he was a college student. Years later, he and Nidey reconnected, and Nidey saw an opportunity.

“He was one of the few people that came through the store that I thought had the aptitude, personality and perseverance, all of those things,” Nidey said. “In some ways he was similar to me as far as our vision and how we wanted to treat people. How we are really serious about cycling. He wanted to encourage other people into the activity.”

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“I always said I wanted to be out of the business by the time I was 60,” Nidey added. “I was 54 at the time. Ryan was ready.”

Nidey and Baker worked together for the first year, easing the transition between owners.

Baker shares Nidey’s enthusiasm, not just for cycling, but for the cycling community. It remains strong in Iowa City, he says, with a group of gravel riders meeting at World of Bikes weekly during the warm seasons.

The store caters to cyclists of all types, stocked with bikes from Salsa Cycles, Trek and other popular brands. It also carries tools, accessories and apparel.

The store also carries E-bikes, which Baker says is the fastest-growing trend in the cycling industry.

“The misconception is these are cheater bikes or that the bike is doing all the work,” Baker said. “You still have to pedal. It’s just amplifying your pedal strokes. You can still go out and get a workout. We correct people and say they’re enabling bikes.”

Most of the bicycles in stock are new, but World of Bikes has a trade-in program for kids so they can upgrade to the appropriate bike as they grow. They can trade in their old bike for store credit to go toward their next bike.

“It allows parents to keep kids on the right sized bikes,” Baker said.

World of Bikes refurbishes the bikes that are traded in, donating them in the community to organizations like the Iowa City Bike Library to get more children on bicycles.

After more than 50 years, the store continues to provide a full suite of services, including tire repairs, suspension work, full tune-ups, diagnostics and E-bike repairs.

Baker is optimistic that World of Bikes will continue to serve cyclists in Iowa City for the next 50 years. Nidey is grateful for what cycling and the store has given him.

“I had a great run for 30-plus years of doing it. Ryan has just been wonderful,” Nidey said. “I couldn’t have had a better person come in and move the business to that next level that it needed to be able to sustain.”