Racer, retailer, coach and sales manager Paul Deem dies at 68

A version of this article will be in the December issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News.

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (BRAIN) — Paul Deem, an industry stalwart who was an Olympian, store owner, cycling coach and bike-brand sales manager, died in October following an accident while on vacation in Portugal with his wife, Deborah. He was 68.

Deem started bike racing in his teens and won a gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games in the team pursuit. The following year he competed at the Montréal Olympics, where he finished 10th in the 4000-meter individual pursuit. He was also a three-time national champion in the time trial, individual pursuit, and team pursuit.

Health issues prevented Deem from continuing high-level racing, Deborah Deem said. 

“He went to the Olympics at 17 and he thought that would be his first time of many. But he started realizing he was having a hard time competing with guys he used to beat,” she told BRAIN.

Deem was diagnosed with progressive nerve disease that eventually forced him to stop cycling and wear braces on his legs. 

“He never complained,” Deborah said. “He woke up every day with a smile on his face and said, ‘Good morning, Love, what would you like today to look like?’”

After retiring from racing, Deem partnered with Olympic mechanic Steve Aldridge to open the Cycles Olympic retail store in the LA area. He left the industry to work as a stockbroker, then returned as a sales rep for Lawee, the owner of the Univega bike brand. In the mid-1990s he left Lawee and bought two bike stores, which he later expanded into the five-store Cycle Werks retail chain. He sold the remaining stores in 2017 and retired.

He was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2021. 

Deem leaves two grown children, Paul Harvey Deem and Seth Deem. He also is survived by his first wife, Pam Dollar. His second wife, Debra H. Deem, died after being struck by a motorist while cycling in Newport Beach in 2013. Paul and Deborah met in 2014 and married in 2017. 

The family plans a celebration of life on March 7, 2026, at El Niguel Country Club, in Laguna Niguel, Calif.