Pedal Driven Cycles

By Hailea Boykin  |  Photos Courtesy of Ben Mistak

Located on Broad Street is a custom bicycle frame builder and skate shop called Pedal Driven Cycles (PDC) — one of a handful of small American manufacturers left that both builds and sells bikes in house.

As the shop owner, David Harrison is the man behind the custom bikes, and with 20 years of experience in the industry, he knows his stuff, whether you’re looking for a BMX (bicycle motocross), mountain, jumping, single speed or road bike.

Harrison gained his love for BMX in the 80s, when he was just in middle school.  “I would see kids in the neighborhood riding,” he says, “I also saw the bikes in print magazines, they really got my interest.”

Throughout high school Harrison worked as a mechanic at Heart & Sole Cycle & Fitness across from his high school where he learned a few tricks of the trade. Later he became an assistant service manager at Bob’s Schwinn Cycle & Fitness (now Bob’s Bicycles) and that’s where Harrison first knew he wanted to build bikes.

His first bike building opportunity was for Homeless Bikes in Austin, Texas, where he welded a handful of their frames. “I feel very lucky that I walked into a very open shop where people were willing to let me learn,” mentions Harrison, because he didn’t attend any type of formal training from an engineering or trade school. “I still tell kids to go to school though,” he jokes.

After Homeless Bikes, Harrison took his skills to FBM Machine Shop in Binghamton, N.Y., where he continued to build and weld all types of custom and FBM model frames.

Perfecting his frame craftsmanship from 1994 to 2011, he decided to take a chance and start Pedal Driven Cycles in Providence, R.I., where he launched a successful Kickstarter campaign that helped him with his first BMX model, the Kool Thing.

After some time, Harrison and his family relocated to Athens in 2014 and brought PDC along with them. “We were really tired of the cold,” he teases, but his wife works currently works at UGA.

Since its inception, PDC has been a part of many people’s bike journeys — Ryan Corrigan, Pat Schreader and Jordan Ty Prince, just to name a few — and as the only custom bike frame shop in Athens, Harrison is ready to help you build part of your journey.