RAVENSWOOD — Green Machines Cycles, a bike shop known for its expert repairs, custom builds and environmentally minded philosophy, is closing this month after 13 years in Ravenswood.
Owner Ezra Hozinsky announced the closure Wednesday in a Facebook post, telling customers the shop at 1634 W. Montrose Ave. lost its lease due to a deal worked out between neighboring Dollop Coffee and the building’s landlord allowing the cafe to rent out the bike shop’s space to expand its seating. Hozinsky declined an interview.
“Thanks so much for your patronage and support over the years,” his Facebook post reads. The shop is having a liquidation sale with merchandise discounted 50-75 percent off through Aug. 20.
In an emailed statement, the building’s landlord, Samuel Martin, said, “The lease is expiring for Green Machine Cycles. Both parties are honoring the terms of the existing lease extension.”
Dan Weiss, owner of Dollop Coffee, a Chicago-based cafe with 14 locations, disputed Hozinsky’s account, saying in a statement that “we’ve tried over the years to be good neighbors, and every single effort failed.”
“I would imagine the situation the bike shop is in has everything to do with the situation the bike shop is in, and nothing to do with Dollop,” the statement continued. “We have absolutely and unequivocally no responsibility nor did we take a single action to kick anyone out of anywhere, nor could we. Dollop was offered the space and best guess as to why [that] would be.” He speculated that the bike shop could have been out of lease extensions or “didn’t notify [the] landlord in time” — or simply that the “landlord did not wish to extend.”
He added that “Dollop is stoked to provide more safe community space, products and ideas, and we are excited to show folks our newest versions of our progress as a hospitality company.”
He concluded that “I have nothing but respect” Ezra and the years he has put into his business and “[I] wish him the best. I don’t know if he actually believes what he thinks to be true? Or if he’s simply using Dollop to save face. Either way, this is annoying and not real.”
For many customers, Green Machine’s closure marks the loss of a neighborhood institution.
Sam Aronson, 27, of Logan Square, said he began shopping there a few years ago and now returns several times each summer because of Hozinsky’s expertise and connection to the community.
“Getting to know the owner just from the few times I’ve gone kept me going back because he seemed like a really good dude who’s part of the community and we’ve talked about other shared interests, like the local birding scene,” Aronson said.
Aronson said independent bike shops like Green Machine have become increasingly difficult to find.
“I couldn’t imagine if one of my closer, local shops closed,” he said. “[I’m] partially frustrated because there’s not a ton of shops like that in the city that are locally owned and catered to the community, and then also have those specialty products that you’d have to hunt for online or potentially even have to import.”
Leigh Weber, 70, who now lives in Maryland but previously lived in Lincoln Park, first visited Green Machine in 2020 to have a 20-year-old bike restored. He eventually scrapped that one and Hozinsky helped build Weber a customized touring bike over eight months in 2022.
“He was always on top of stuff and straight up,” Weber said. “It’s always hard to find someone who meets you where you are and doesn’t try to upsell you and over sell. As someone who has 45 to 50 years of going to bike shops, you get to know who the good ones are, and he’s a good guy.”
Weber, a longtime recreational and touring cyclist who once cycled across the U.S., said Hozinsky ranks among the best mechanics he’s encountered. He said Hozinsky worked carefully with his bikes and made sure “you didn’t even get a slight scratch on it while it was there.”
“To me, that place was a gem for the biking community in that slice of what people want. He’s not Jiffy Lube; he’s the custom shop,” Weber said.
Founded in 2013, Green Machine built a reputation around repairs, custom bicycles and promoting cycling as everyday transportation. The shop’s website emphasizes sustainability, long-lasting products and creating a welcoming environment for rides of all experience levels.
