About Downieville Outfitters

Downieville's longest running bike shop
~locally owned~

We are proud to be embarking on our 12th season.
This year our shop has moved, we will now be located above Downieville Motors and out at the ol' school bus in the parking lot. In an effort to remain the lowest prices in town we have lowered our shuttles to $18 on weekdays. We now offer higher end models of Specialized and Ellsworth bicycles to accommodate the growing need due to our intense geography. Dave (my old partner), BJ (the driver), and Mike Toth (the mechanic) will all be here to work this year. Unfortunately, my girlfriend Cathy will be away at Dental Hygiene school, but she will make a couple of appearances on break. Additionally, 321 Action Cams will now be located next door to our new premesis.

Established in 1996, Mike Hume founder of Downieville Outfitters had the vision for the prospects of a thriving full-service mountain bike shop because the town was ideally situated at the base of a 15 mile downhill with a 4000' descent. When he actualized his dream, we became Downieville's first full-service Mountain Bike Shop! Back in the day, the "Bad Bus" was the only shuttle and sometimes did not like to run. We had a funny trailer attached to the back and all the bikers piled in for a wild ride to Packer Saddle.

Local Kids were the first to ride the trails
The local kids often rode the Downhill trails on their BMX bikes and thought nothing of it... they were just having fun in their hometown. Our driver BJ had a piece of PVC pipe attached to his bmx bike and after a day of fishing at Packer Lake he'd put his poles in the pipe, drag his bike up to the Saddle and ride the downhill back to Downieville. He said that 1st Divide was half of what it is now and partly unrideable.

How I came to find Downieville Outfitters
My partner in the 90's, Dave Joseph arrived in Downieville in early 1996 from Ohio to check out a bike shop for sale. He called me to see if I was interested since for years we had talked of such an adventure on our mountain bike trips, so I was quick to make plans to see it. We spent an entire week riding all the trails from town. We went crazy when we found out how extensive the network of trails were from Downieville alone! After the most incredible week of riding in my life I went back to Ohio, sold my house and moved to Downieville, California with a blotchy population of 350. In November of 1996 Dave and I purchased Downieville Outfitters from Truckee Ski Works and picked up a line with Specialized bicycles.

Just a couple of Ohio boys in Downieville! Our first location was in the Craycroft Building (now the St. Charles). We had a bar in the shop where you could sit on stools and watch the big screen TV playing mountain bike videos and drink beer fresh from the keg! Everyone loved the tradition of biking and beer! The shop was pretty small time with about five employees... our best being a local guy named Brian, or as he is called BJ.

Dave married, moved to Berkeley and started a family and last year he moved to Mt. Rose near Reno. I bought the business from him and started my own family... my son Daniel was born and I purchased a home in Sierra City (which coincidentally was formerly a home to local moutain bikers).

The 90's came to a close and with the new Millenium came a new location for us. I moved next door into the Forks Building for two years. The best thing about the Forks was the fact that it was the year Daron Huck from Ohio began working for us. Coincidentally Daron heard about the world class riding in Downieville and came out on an internship from Ohio University. I had to hire him and he became the greatest employee because he has probably ridden every trail with me and aquired a wealth of area knowledge. Daron's friend Ryan made that one visit to Downieville and one week later packed his bags back home and moved out here for the longest summer... 2 years. We still had a hold on our employee BJ, so things were going well for us.

Our new location, a building built in 1867 was not finished so we spent a year in Sierra City and then moved back to Downieville into the buiding next door to the Yuba Theatre. This was the year that Downieville was put on the map by one guy from the small town of Downieville named Henry O'Donnell. He became a successful rider for Santa Cruz and made the world of mountain bikers take notice of the small town of Downieville, CA!

World Famous Downieville Downhill
These trails are the hidden treasures of the Sierras and are now World Famous. The Downhill has several routes at the top and several choices at the end. Butcher Ranch is over 150 years old, which hook up with to the Divides funneling back to town.

In the Northern Section of the Tahoe National Forest
The trails of Sierra County's Tahoe National Forest are unique because they were used by timber fallers and gold miners so they are well defined. Also, our area is the Lakes Basin which boasts 45 plus Alpine Lakes, so all of the trails are built along the rivers and lakes so as to nourish the Packers, Miners,Timber Fallers and their animals.

Come visit and you will find out why Ohioans have settled in Downieville. Discover for yourself why Downieville, California stakes a claim as a Mecca for Mountain Biking.

Now Get on y'er Steed and Ride!