A new business spanning three generations of one family is bringing e-bike rentals and sales to Bucksport and beyond.
CJ Sprockets, owned by Chris and Cindy Jones with help from their two adult daughters, Caitlyn and Lauren, significant others and infant grandson, was inspired by existing e-bike rentals on Mount Desert Island.
The family aims to bring numerous new opportunities for e-biking in the area, including for passengers from an increasing number of cruise ships docking in Bucksport. CJ Sprockets is also an example of economic growth related to the cruise ship traffic Bucksport has courted for years amid efforts to diversify after losing its major taxpayer, the Verso paper mill, more than a decade ago.
Jones family members often referenced a feeling of freedom when biking as they spoke about their new business Friday. The shop is headquartered at their home, with plans to add rental kiosks elsewhere.
“You can literally go anywhere,” Cindy Jones said of the family’s observations of e-bikes in Bar Harbor, where peak season parking is notoriously difficult as visitors flock to Acadia National Park. “And that’s where we said, ‘You know what? Let’s bring it here, because we’re before all those people [geographically].'”
E-bikes have battery-powered electric motors that can assist riders with pedaling, making them easier to use than traditional bicycles for longer journeys and on steep terrain.
“It’s awesome,” said Caitlyn Jones, who regularly takes one from Bucksport to work on Verona Island. “I have some chronic illness, I’m disabled, and I’m riding bikes again.”
She left Connecticut to join her sister in Maine, followed by her parents several years ago. With “the band back together” and their parents retired, the Joneses decided to have some fun and venture into the e-bike business together, they said.
The idea took shape in downtown Bucksport to serve passengers on American Cruise Line ships, which have docked there in rising numbers in recent years. Visitors travel to Fort Knox and other area attractions by bus, but Joneses see the bikes as an opportunity for them to have more independent experiences and explore.
“They’re high quality bikes, and they just make the experience a little bit more unique,” Chris Jones said of the California-based Aventon brand bikes that make up their rental program.
The family hoped to have a self-serve kiosk on the waterfront, but is navigating red tape finding an approved site. In the meantime, the town connected them with local business owner George MacLeod, who lent his property next to the town dock for a rental tent when ships arrive.
The cruise line crowd mostly hasn’t proved to be avid bikers so far, but the family is undeterred.
“That’s not scaring us away, because the simple fact that once they see that there’s more to do here in Bucksport, and that they can actually rent the bike and, on their free will, go over to the fort and have a different experience…that’s what we’re here to do now,” Chris Jones said.
Customers can also order rentals online and CJ Sprockets will meet them where they are, such as in Bangor or at a trailhead in Acadia.
For businesses, CJ Sprockets offers “placement agreements,” which includes a fleet with a kiosk and a service package.
An additional tier will add the business’ branding to the bikes, so users advertise as they ride. A QR code to rent is easy to use and doesn’t require extra website work, Chris Jones said.
The property at 111 Town Farm Road where the fledgling bike shop is headquartered also offers flexibility to grow, he said, and includes acres of trails built by the previous owner where customers can now test bikes for retail sale.
On the retail side, CJ Sprockets is a regional distributor for Freesky Cycles, which provides higher-powered models for more rugged terrain.
Chris Jones was always a “bicycle nut” growing up, he said, outfitting 10-speeds for early forms of mountain biking with friends in the 1980s.
High-performance mountain bikes today can easily run many thousands of dollars, he said, but he’s focused on entry-level, affordable choices for the retail side of the business. Numerous models are available, all for less than $2,000.
He sees room to grow into supplying spare parts and servicing e-bikes; people have already started calling for help with ones they bought online, he said.
Someday, Jones — who spent his first career in manufacturing — hopes to bring e-bike production to Maine for the first time.
But for now, he’s been pleasantly surprised by the experience of doing business in Bucksport.
“The local business climate is, ‘Yes, please,’” he said.
