Wednesday, April 13, 2022

BikeorBar searching for new home after fire


 Six months ago, BikeorBar, 904 Elmwood Ave., a popular spin and exercise studio in Elmwood Village, suffered a devastating fire. Brit Leo, one of the owners, is searching for a new space to reopen her establishment.

After nearly a decade of serving the Buffalo fitness community, Leo is now working with other studios as an interim instructor.

“I’ve been teaching all over at other studios, which has been awesome,” Leo said.

Leo teaches at studios such as Sweat 716, 145 Swan St., and two others in Tonawanda and Amherst. She just partnered with SUNY Buffalo State College to bring free spin classes to campus for students. Although she has been happy working as an interim instructor, she hopes to reopen her studio soon.

The fire in October 2021 affected the whole building, pushing out BikeorBar, Hardcore Tattoo and the eight tenants living above. No further steps have been made by Leo’s landlord to get the building up to code, she said.

Leo said she has been looking for new spaces to lease but has not found any up to par in comparison to the Elmwood location.

“My hope is that he does the right thing and gets that building where it needs to be because it’s the perfect location. We’ve been there for 10 years, and we really don’t want to leave that spot,” Leo said. By Peyton Fletcher and Valerie Ryan