A HARD-WORKING Bankie who spent two decades working in retail says he is "living the dream" after starting up a new bike shop in Clydebank.

David Maxwell opened DM's Cycles and Repairs on the site of a former tattoo parlour in Alexander Street in January - and admits the first few weeks of being a business owner have been a "blur".

Speaking as the Post paid visit to the new shop, David – a keen cyclist since his teenage years - said he had taken a leap into the unknown after years of dreaming of his own bike shop.

He said: “After 20 years working in the bike industry, I had long-harboured ambitions to be in my own shop by the time I turned 40.

“I just squeaked in there as a young 39, so I just managed my life goal.

“What I didn’t know was, how I was going to do it.”

Clydebank Post: David says he has always had ambitions to open up his very own bike shopDavid says he has always had ambitions to open up his very own bike shop (Image: Newsquest)

David’s former employer decided to close down their Clydebank shop in June 2021 and asked him to move to their Braehead store.

That was the moment he decided it was now or never on the path to his ambition and he decided to take the offer of redundancy.

“When I left my previous employment, my overwhelming emotions were part hesitation, a bit of self-doubt, trepidation and excitement in equal measure,” David added.

He began doing bike repairs from his Clydebank flat, and built his own website. But it wasn’t until a chance conversation whilst getting his hair cut that everything changed.

He continued: “I was getting my haircut across at Snips and they told me the shop across the road was on the council books. Once I knew that I enquired about getting it.”

David believes his shop is perfectly placed for footfall and bike enthusiasts, with route 7 on the National Cycle Network - which runs from Sunderland to Inverness via, among many other places, Glasgow and Loch Lomond - just a stone's throw from the store.

David sells bikes - mountain bikes, children's bikes, refurbished bikes and electric bikes - as well as fixing them. 

And he admits he is finally happy to be his own boss and couldn’t have gotten to where he is now without the help of others.

“I couldn’t have done it without the help of my partner,” David finished.

“When I was doing servicing in the house, I had all these accessories and boxes in the house, I had stuff in the bath, stuff in the spare room, stuff in the living room, it was a full flat.

“I was trying to take in two, three bikes as well as having all that stuff, so it was getting a bit much.

“And then I got the call the shop was mine, and it all worked out.”

Check out David’s website at dmscycles.co.uk.