Denver’s Beloved Combined Cafe-Bar-Bike Store Is Closing at the End of the Month

The Denver Bicycle Cafe and its neighboring Tandem Bar, which have been together serving up coffee, bike repairs, and beer for eight years on 17th Avenue, will close at the end of the month, according to a note posted to the cafe’s website.

The note states the combined cafe, bar, and bike shop are closing because construction disruptions in the neighborhood as well as a restrictive lease have made it impossible to “make ends meet and sustain the bike shop and cafe.”

BusinessDen reported earlier Monday that Jessica Caouette, a co-founder of the cafe that now owns Tandem Bar, said both the cafe (which includes the bike shop) and bar will remain open through October before hosting a combined goodbye party on November 1. The Denver Bicycle Cafe is located at 1308 E. 17th Avenue with Tandem Bar next door.

Caouette also said the businesses are now paying about $1,000 more per month for their shared space (they share a lease) than they were a year ago because the assessed value of the property has increased and the space’s lease makes them responsible for paying all expenses associated with the space, BusinessDen reported.

Caouette also told the business news website that construction of the Park 17 apartment complex to the west of the businesses has presented a challenge because the construction work has blocked off sidewalks and lanes of traffic while construction workers routinely take up much of the parking in the vicinity.

BusinessDen also reported that Caouette said her landlord was planning to raise the rent when the lease expired and that she and Denver Bike Cafe owner Peter Roper could not afford the cost of building out a new space somewhere else.

Caouette and Roper founded the Denver Bicycle Cafe and DBC Beer Hall (now Tandem Bar) in 2011 and ran them together before deciding last year to split ownership of the business with Roper taking over the cafe and bike shop and Caouette the bar.

• The Denver Bicycle Cafe and Tandem Bar [Official]
• Uptown Denver Bicycle Cafe and Tandem Bar to Close [BusinessDen]