Midwest Cyclery

Midwest Cyclery is a Dutch-rooted, family-owned independent bicycle shop on Kansas City’s Main Street corridor, founded in 1972 and operating under the Baanders-Decker family — a 50-plus-year Midtown anchor whose windmill logo nods to its founders’ Netherlands heritage.

Description

Midwest Cyclery is an independent, family-owned bicycle shop in Kansas City’s Midtown / Main Street corridor at 3951 Main Street. It sells bicycles across categories — road, mountain, electric (e-bikes), and adaptive trikes and handcycles — alongside a broad catalog of parts, accessories, and apparel, and runs a full-service repair department that works on bikes of all types and brands, from tune-ups to complete overhauls.¹²

The current location is roughly a 7,000-square-foot space, of which about 4,000 square feet is retail floor.³⁴ The shop carries gear and components from a wide range of brands including Shimano, Continental, DT Swiss, Garmin, Fox Racing, Pearl Izumi, Thule, Kuat, Smith, and Top End adaptive trikes, among others; customer reviews and dealer directories also associate it with bike brands such as Linus, Reid, Sun Trike, and Gazelle.²⁵ The business’s trademark image is a Dutch windmill, a nod to its founders’ Netherlands roots.³⁴

Ownership and history

Midwest Cyclery was founded in 1972 by Gus and Chris, two Dutch immigrants who had come to the United States in 1959, and grew into a Kansas City fixture for cycling enthusiasts.³⁴ The shop’s windmill logo reflects that Dutch heritage.³⁴

Christina Baanders-Decker grew up in the family stores — by her own account washing windows at age seven for a quarter.⁴ The business passed out of family hands when it was sold roughly two decades before being reacquired; Christina herself stepped away from bike retail for about 23 years to raise her children.⁴ In 2015, Christina and her husband Bob Decker bought Midwest Cyclery back from the owner who had purchased it from her father, returning the shop to the founding family.³⁴

Shortly after the 2015 repurchase, a fire forced the shop to relocate to its current Main Street location.³⁴ Bob and Christina Baanders-Decker have continued operating it since, “continuing the traditions set by Gus and Chris,” and have expanded into electric bikes and adaptive cycling equipment.¹³ As of 2026 the shop remains family-owned and operating.⁶⁷

Links

• Official site: https://midwestcyclerykc.com/
• About: https://midwestcyclerykc.com/pages/about-us
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MidwestCyclery/

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. Midwest Cyclery — Official site (homepage, About Us, Contact). https://midwestcyclerykc.com/pages/about-us — asserts: founded 1972 by Dutch immigrants Gus and Chris; current owners Christina Decker (owner) and Bob Decker (manager); address 3951 Main Street, Kansas City, MO; phone (816) 931-4653; full-service department, multi-brand catalog, e-bikes. ↩ ↩²

2. Midwest Cyclery — Collections / brand listings. https://midwestcyclerykc.com/collections — asserts: carries 100%, Animal BMX, Continental, DeFeet, Delta, DT Swiss, ESI Grips, Fit BMX, Fox Racing, G-Form, Garmin, Greenfield, Honey Stinger, Kuat, KMC, Kool-Stop, Linus Bikes, Nite Ize, Pearl Izumi, Reid, Shimano, Smith, Sun Trike, Thule, Top End adaptive trikes/wheelchairs; service for all bike types. ↩ ↩²

3. Midwest Cyclery “Our Story” / About content. https://midwestcyclerykc.com/ — asserts: Gus and Chris came to the US in 1959 chasing the American dream and opened Midwest Cyclery in 1972; windmill trademark; Bob and Christina Baanders-Decker took the reins in May 2015 continuing the founders’ traditions; full-service department including electric bikes. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

4. Bicycle Retailer and Industry News — “Surly shop cat, windmill tattoos, and avoiding Benjis on a Dealer Tour of Kansas City” (2018). https://www.bicycleretailer.com/retail-news/2018/05/23/shop-cats-windmill-tattoos-and-avoiding-benjis-dealer-tour-kansas-city — asserts: Christina Baanders-Decker grew up in the stores (washing windows at age 7 for a quarter); took ~23 years off from bike retail to raise children; in 2015 she and husband Bob Decker bought Midwest Cyclery back from the person who had purchased it from her dad; six weeks after purchase a fire forced relocation to the current ~7,000-sq-ft location (~4,000 sq ft retail). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

5. NBDA Bicycle Retail Radio — “Legacy, Innovation, and Community: Christina Baanders-Decker of Midwest Cyclery.” https://nbda.com/legacy-innovation-and-community-christina-baanders-decker-of-midwest-cyclery/ — asserts: Christina Baanders-Decker is current owner of the family-owned bike shop, “running a family-owned bike shop for nearly a decade.” ↩

6. Yelp — Midwest Cyclery, 3951 Main St, Kansas City, MO. https://www.yelp.com/biz/midwest-cyclery-kansas-city-2 — asserts: address 3951 Main St, Kansas City; categorized as a bike shop; listing updated May 2026 with active reviews (open). ↩

7. Gazelle Bikes — dealer locator, Midwest Cyclery Kansas City (64111). https://www.gazellebikes.com/en-us/bikeshop/kansas-city/midwest-cyclery-64111 — asserts: Midwest Cyclery is a current authorized Gazelle bicycle dealer at the 64111 location (open). ↩