{"id":1541,"date":"2016-05-31T14:14:38","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T14:14:38","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-08-03T16:41:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T16:41:52","slug":"20-years-making-meet-courtney-whitinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/20-years-making-meet-courtney-whitinger\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Years in the Making: Meet Courtney Whitinger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtney Whitinger has been working with bikes for more than 20 years. He works as a bike assembly specialist, and builds Shinola bikes in the shop located in the back of our Detroit store. Learn more about him in the interview below. <\/p>\n

Catch fellow bike assembly specialist Alex Schekine’s interview, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Courtney Whitinger.<\/p>\n

What were you doing before you started working for Shinola?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I worked on and off in bicycle retail stores for 22 years, and that\u2019s actually how I met Alex back in the \u201890s. We worked at the same bicycle company. In addition to Shinola, I work as a videographer for the Tigers, the Red Wings, the Lions, and other freelance projects.<\/p>\n

What kind of bike rider are you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a recreational rider. I used to ride bicycles a lot more frequently. Mountain biking. And I started getting so many jobs, and old, and not enough time anymore. It was strictly recreational. Alex was a racer. He was a lot more involved in cycling. I did it more for fun.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got six different bikes at home. I do not own a Shinola yet. In the summertime we\u2019ll go to lunch or we have shop rides that we\u2019ll do from here, and then I\u2019ll borrow a Shinola bike to ride.<\/p>\n

What makes Shinola bikes different?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The bikes are really like no other bike out on the market. They\u2019re very unique, kind of traditional style bicycles. I think a lot of sales we\u2019ve gotten just from people saying, \u201cthat would look great hanging in my office, I\u2019d never ride it, but it\u2019s kind of a piece of art.\u201d But then when they actually give it a test ride they realize that it\u2019s also an awesome ride. These bikes are unique because they are put together thoughtfully by hand, almost like art. <\/p>\n

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A look inside the Detroit store where Courtney helps hand assemble every bike.<\/p>\n

What is your favorite part of the job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Spring and summer we get a lot more test rides through, and I always look forward to getting a bicycle ready for a customer to take out on a nice day and go for a good ride. Getting their response from it is the best. It\u2019s not like a bicycle store where people are coming in specifically to buy a bicycle. It seems like many of the customers here aren\u2019t even sure that we make bicycles.<\/p>\n

I spent so many years in a retail bicycle store that I love how it is at Shinola\u2014 it\u2019s very different than a retail bicycle store. It\u2019s nice just dealing with bicycles, and knowing that I\u2019ve laid hands on every bicycle that\u2019s left this building. I\u2019m proud of that.<\/p>\n

What sort of changes have you noticed in Detroit in the past few years? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Traffic. On the weekends there is so much foot traffic and cars everywhere. It seems like that\u2019s just happened within the last few years \u2014 more and more and people are going downtown for things and it feels like a real city.<\/p>\n

This interview is part of a new series called JOBS that highlights the people that make Shinola tick. Find their stories here on The Journal or on our Jobs page<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Nearly all of Shinola Products are Built in the US with US or Imported Parts<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtney Whitinger has been working with bikes for more than 20 years. He works as a bike assembly specialist, and builds Shinola bikes in the shop located in the back of our Detroit store. Learn more about him in the interview below.  Catch fellow bike assembly specialist Alex Schekine’s interview, here. [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”2066″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”540″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”960″}}]] Courtney Whitinger. What […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[8,14],"yoast_head":"\n20 Years in the Making: Meet Courtney Whitinger - Our Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/20-years-making-meet-courtney-whitinger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20 Years in the Making: Meet Courtney Whitinger - Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Courtney Whitinger has been working with bikes for more than 20 years. He works as a bike assembly specialist, and builds Shinola bikes in the shop located in the back of our Detroit store. 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