Research shows that social and economic mobility are closely linked to personal access to transportation. By providing access to bikes, people have the mobility required to connect with the community, get to health appointments, and earn an income. It may sound like an overstatement, but by providing and maintaining bicycles, lives are being changed.

Our Community Bikes runs twice weekly repair clinics at Oppenheimer Park providing free, critical repairs to people in the community. With a focus on bicycles but the clinics offer so much more. 

Randall, At 62 years old, has navigated the challenging reality of homelessness for nearly nine months. Carrying not just a walker for his left knee, but an unyielding spirit that has become a source of light for others. He is a poet and in his notes, he transforms the world’s discord into harmony. Read on to feel the embrace. 

The Community by Repair 

By Randall 

In Oppenheimer’s heart, where shadows often creep, 

A different light ignites, secrets the pavement keeps. 

Not just the lonely hum of a city’s restless drone, 

But turning wrenches, whispers, seeds of hope are sown. 

Twice weekly, steady hands, a rhythm soft and true, 

Mend the broken spokes, making old things feel like new. 

Bicycles, rusty steeds, their journeys yet untold, 

Scooters, swift and free, a story to unfold. 

And wheelchairs, silent heroes, granting grace and stride, 

Their wheels once stilled, now turning, with dignity inside. 

Here, love is in the touch, the patience freely given, 

A quiet, knowing glance, a small piece of shared heaven. 

Grace in every gesture, no judgment in the air, 

Just open hands and hearts, a willingness to share. 

The grease upon the fingers, the focused, earnest gaze, 

A testament to effort, through long and winding days. 

For hard work has a beauty, a purpose strong and deep, 

A pride in every bolt, the promises that they keep. 

A skill reborn, a lesson learned, a purpose found anew, 

In every tightened chain, a spirit shining through. 

The clang of metal, soft talk, the scent of oil and steel, 

A symphony of healing, for wounds the heart can feel. 

They are not just the forgotten, lost within the fray, 

But architects of motion, brightening everybody’s day. 

They are seen in every pedal, every turning wheel, 

In every journey taken, the freedom they can feel. 

Valued in the laughter, the quiet, knowing nod, 

A community rebuilt, by the grace of man and God. 

So let this poem echo, beyond the park’s embrace, 

A testament to courage, to love, and quiet grace. 

For in the heart of Oppenheimer, where the broken find repair, 

They mend not just the metal, but the spirits dwelling there. 

The post The Community By Repair appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

But as spooky season approaches, it is not just you who could dress up, it’s time to get your trusty bike involved too. We put together some ideas for costumes which will suit all ages, whether you are looking for a hassle free outfit for your child to wear trick or treating, for a house party, or indeed for the OCB Halloween Party, Creepy Crawly 2025, October 31, 8pm to late.

Ideas for spooky bike costumes

Ghost riders

For those short on time, this is perhaps the easiest option for a quick and easy bike-themed costume. Simply grab an old white bedsheet, cut out some eye (and if necessary mouth) holes and throw it on. Jump on your bike, and there you have it… a ghost rider! For added effect, you could also decorate your bicycle with a few faux cobwebs. However, be cautious with the length of the sheet to avoid it catching in your bike spokes, and ensure the eye holes are cut large enough to allow adequate vision of the road while riding. 

Flying witches and warlock

Not all witches travel by broom… some ride bikes! To turn your bicycle into a broomstick, simply fasten a broom to the frame using rope or strong wire, with the brush at the back. We have also seen folks decorate their panniers to look like cauldrons! Don a hat and a cape, and there you have it!

E.T.

Another simple costume idea which requires little more than printing an image of ET and sticking it into a doll or stuffed toy animal, wrapping it in a sheet and placing it in a basket or crate attached to the front of your bike. Make sure you wear a red hoodie to resemble Elliot! We have seen an incredible twist on this, with a young child dressed as ET, seated on a handlebar bike seat- fun for the entire family!

Mario and friends

This one is great for getting your whole crew involved. Each person can dress as a Mario Kart character, swapping the infamous “kart” for a bicycle to pedal around the neighbourhood (or to the OCB Halloween Party). Attaching different colour balloons to the back of each bicycle is a playful addition, and you certainly won’t lose your friends in the traffic!

Be safe, be seen… be spooky!

Being seen by motorised traffic while biking in costume is essential. With Fall now set it, sunset is before 6pm and wearing costumes and adding decorations on your bike can make for wobbly riding! Luckily, there are some incredible innovative ways to spice up your bicycle lights for halloween, which may also prove useful across the entire winter season.

Glow-in-the-Dark Spoke Reflectors: These attach to your spokes and will reflect light. You can find halloween themed covers such as pumpkins online and around Vancouver.

Glowing In The Dark Chain: Try using glow-in-the-dark chain oil, or you could test out covering your chain with glow-in-the-dark paint (check that it’s bike-safe).

Red Taillights: Red lights on the back of your bike will keep you visible, while also adding to the spooky vibe. Blinking lights add a dramatic effect and help grab the attention of drivers or other cyclists. Pop by the shop if you want to pick some up!

Spoke LED Lights: Attach small LED lights to your spokes to create moving circles of light as you pedal. These can be purchased from many bike stores across the city and online.

The post Biking Halloween costume ideas appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

Although evenings are becoming shorter, the fall weather still makes for wonderful biking around Vancouver. The temperatures are fresh and the orange glow of the trees make for beautiful evenings- what could be better for a pedal powered trip across the city?

Some readers may now be thinking, this sounds great, but I have never commuted by bike before, how do I get started?

The crew from OCB offered their advice for anybody looking to kick start their cycle commute

1. Be seen– it may still be light when you leave work or school, but the sun disappears quickly
2. Be ready for rain– We all know how quickly the weather can change in the fall, and being caught without the right protection while on your bike is not fun. Make sure you pack a lightweight raincoat, and a brimmed cap can also be useful for keeping rain out of your eyes. Bringing backup clothing is also beneficial, to avoid sitting in the office / classroom in sodden clothing! 
3. Pack a spare inner tube and pump- Fallen leaves and damp roads increase the chance for small, sharp objects at the side of the roads to puncture your tires. Not everybody knows how to change an inner tube, but come by one of OCB’s repair clinics, Youth Clubs, or ESG Access nights or drop into DIY and we can help you understand more about the process and learn for yourself how to fix a puncture. These maintenance clinics are also important for ensuring your brakes and gears are operating well. 
4. Bike with caution- Wet leaves on the road can also create hazardous cycling conditions and increase the chance of slipping and concealing uneven surfaces. Watchout!
5. Check out the cycleways– Vancouver hosts a network of car-free cycle routes which connect downtown and residential districts. For example, the Arbutus Greenway and the Seymour Valley Trailway are great routes for navigating the city and enjoying a ride. More bike friendly and safer options can be found on the City of Vancouver’s online bike lane maps and planning tool.
6. Get a crew! Biking with peers, classmates or colleagues is a great way to build confidence if you are new to commuting by bike. We at OCB are helping people to build a community around biking through our various programs. Youth Bike Club and ESG Access nights are intended as social space for developing lifelong friendships around pedal power- so come along and find out more! There are also a range of local biking clubs (such as Gravel Buddies, Chill Rides, or YVR Fixed) which focus on inclusivity and solidarity- well worth checking out.
7. Get a good bike lock- Unfortunately, bike theft is a very real experience. To help protect your bike, we advise a sturdy bike lock (particularly if your college or place of work does not have secure bike parking), ensuring the frame, back and front wheels are all secured. If you don’t know which type of lock to purchase, pop into our shop and we can advise you on what you might be looking for.

Happy autumn and happy biking!

The post Bike Commuting for Beginners appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

Even OCB colleagues have begun taking on their own adventures

“One of my fav trails is the Salish trail in Pacific Spirit Park (northbound), it spits you out at Spanish Banks and you can ride the MUP back east through jericho/kits to Olympic Village!” our Inventory Coordinator, Gari says. 

For many new riders, taking on a bike ride or trip beyond the city can be daunting. To lend a helping hand to our enthusiastic newbies, we spoke with bike shops and clubs across Vancouver to get some advice on how to start… and where to go!

Tennessee from Giant/Liv

I love working at Giant/Liv Vancouver because I love to be part of our customer’s adventures, big or small! We’ve been in the neighborhood for over twelve years now and it’s always so much fun to offer a coffee to our guests, share our ride stories, get them to try a new bike, or fix theirs before a big event or their daily commutes. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch people grow in confidence and passion over the years, and to know we’ve played a small part in their adventures.

This summer, a few of our team members have signed up for events, whether gravel/road/mountain biking so we will be rooting for them leading up to it and on game day! The focus for our team will be on the adventure side, trying some new routes we’ve been eyeing out and making a day of it. That’s where the stoke is for us!

For folks looking to try a trip out (this one is on the road), it’s a little longer for some, but the road to Horseshoe Bay and back is just so beautiful: it offers stunning ocean views, rewarding rolling hills, and that satisfying mix of challenge and beauty that makes you remember why you ride. 

Giant also have a few more route options on their website, seatoskybicycles.ca

Laur from Kissing Crows Cyclery

This is my first year with Crows, and so I am really excited to deepen my connection to the community through bi-weekly shop rides, our yearly Swift Industries campout and the plethora of other exciting events we are gearing up for.

I love that bike culture often lines up with things I care deeply about—like sustainability, repairability, getting outside, and showing up for marginalized communities. Between co-workers who equally share these values, to friendly regulars, the bike shop is a very enjoyable place to be!

I would highly recommend getting out to Demonstration Forest. Fisherman’s is such a beautiful little route to bumble along for a weekend ride. You can push a lot further past Fisherman’s if you’re feeling it, but if you’re looking for some chill and accessible gravel, Fisherman’s got you! There’s lots of spots to sit along the water for snacks and if you’re lucky, some very cute dogs to bump into. 

Erika (She/her) from Gravel Buddies

I am the founder and ride lead of Gravel Buddies, a cycling club for women, gender-diverse people, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. What I love about riding with the club is the sense of community we create. I see friendships being created, the progress beginner gravel riders make, and the empowerment people feel after their first bikepacking trip. It’s always a lovely and fun experience. 

Since I couldn’t ride much last summer due to an injury, I am hoping to explore more places on my bike, both in the Lower Mainland area and on the islands or Sunshine Coast. I am also looking forward to challenging myself on our first multi-day rally in August. 

If you are looking for a quick escape to the forest after work, I highly recommend Stanley Park or Pacific Spirit Park. The trails are beginner-friendly, and both parks are so peaceful you will forget you are in the city! If you are looking for longer rides or exploring new areas on bikepacking, there are many routes to choose from both in our Ride w GPS club or on the website.

We are no-drop, meaning we wait for every member of the group, very supportive and there is something for every skill level. I hope to see you on one of our future rides or trips!

Gravel Buddies has a fantastic inventory of rides around Vancouver, which are accessible to all abilities: https://www.gravelbuddies.ca/ 

You can also find a range of bike ride ideas through the links below:

https://www.letsgobiking.net/beginner/map

https://www.letsgobiking.net/category/beginner

The post Where will you ride this summer? Vancouver’s bike shops and clubs share their advice  appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

Transport systems, housing, public spaces and other everyday infrastructures are instrumental to accessing education, employment, health and social services. 

Yet, from bike lane routing to bus timetabling, playground design to street lighting schedules, there is growing recognition of the gendered biases built into our urban infrastructure, and the disempowering impacts of our failure to design cities for, and with, women and other equity seeking genders.

In Vancouver, Women Transforming Cities (WTC), a network and advocacy group seeking to advance the civic skills and power of those who have been historically excluded from local government processes is pursuing a shift in how the city is built and who is engaged in decision making processes.

We caught up with them to find out more about what a feminist approach to the city looks like and how they are striving to deploy civic engagement, democratic participation, and local advocacy in the pursuit of equality. 

When were you founded and why?

WTC Founder Ellen Woodsworth served as a City of Vancouver Councillor from 2008–2011. After her term on council, Ellen felt that much more could be done in Vancouver to make the city safer for women and girls. Ellen, along with a group of feminist organizers and urbanists, founded WTC in 2011 to continue to push for intersectional feminist policies in local government. 

From 2011–2019, WTC focused on monthly dialogue cafes, workshops advancing equity and inclusion, speaking at international conferences, and research partnerships. Since 2020, we’ve become known for our work on local government and civic issues for women and equity-deserving genders from an intersectional feminist lens.

What is/are your primary mission(s)?

We want to see cities that work for women, girls, two-spirit, trans, non-binary, and all equity-deserving genders so that everyone can belong, participate, and thrive. 

We radically shift social, economic, and political power to equity-deserving groups in order to reshape who cities are built by and for. We do this work on a municipal level, because in the pursuit of gender, racial, and social equity, city government is an often overlooked yet important site of resistance and action to meet the needs of communities. 

You can learn more by taking a look at our Theory of Change!

What are the main challenges facing cities when it comes to the inclusion of women and other equity deserving genders in urban policy? And what might be unique/specific to Vancouver?

A systematic barrier facing cities is that equity-deserving communities are often discouraged and disincentivized from engaging in civic processes like participating in council meetings or advisory committees to voting and running in municipal elections. WTC addresses this inequity by increasing civic literacy among historically underrepresented communities, and working with municipalities to address barriers to engagement. 

A unique challenge facing Vancouver is that the current city council has considerable ground to cover if they are to meet their equity commitments that they agreed to implement during their election campaigns. 

Our Hot Pink Paper Campaign lists 8 policy asks for equity-deserving communities including affordable housing, heatwave protection to transit. We published our 2-year accountability report to track council’s progress halfway through their term, and while they’ve made some progress, they’ve also taken major steps backward on reducing barriers to non-market housing, and funding climate emergency responses. 

Your 2024 report states that “Local governments are colonial systems that have been designed to exclude”, What is the approach which WTC takes to implementing/driving change? And how might it be unique?

If cities work for equity-deserving genders, they work for all of us. Currently, civic participation does not fully reflect the diversity of local communities due to barriers such as time, language, privilege, and power. Council chambers are colonial spaces that are not safe, accessible, or inclusive for many community members. 

We believe equitable civic engagement and participation is essential for transformation at the local level. We also believe people are the experts in their own lives, so our approach is formed by this thinking and two-fold in nature:

On a systems level, we research to understand systemic barriers to participation, we organize around critical issues and train community members on campaigning, and we amplify voices to councils who are otherwise not heard.

On a community level, we focus on mentoring individuals who have been historically excluded from civic processes through our Watch Council program so that they can have peers, tools, and resources to figure out their role in the social justice ecosystem. We advocate with our community groups and front-line service delivery organizations to highlight their concerns to city councils. We develop resources to support engagement and demystify civic participation processes, as well as workshops in partnership with under-represented groups to build civic literacy and advocacy skills.

You also call cities “sites of resistance”. What does resistance look like for WTC?

Resistance is believing in the collective power we have when we stand in solidarity with each other to create change for our communities. It’s easy to believe that our voices don’t matter to city councillors, but it’s not true. When we organize, we build power, and we make a difference. 

Our community shows us resistance in action. We speak with so many people who want to take action, but don’t always know where to start or who to talk to, and through our programs, trainings, and events, they gain experience and confidence to advocate for the issues they care about. We often say that 200 people coming together on an issue at the federal level are unlikely to be heard, but 200 people advocating to the local council can change policy.

Which partners do you work with, and how do you work with them to achieve your aims?

All of our work at WTC is part of a movement of organizations, community, and labour groups who share our vision of cities where everyone can belong, participate, and thrive. We amplify the priority issues of our partner organizations, alert them to decisions happening at a local government level that impacts their work, train and support partners to speak to council, and run workshops to build the civic and organizing skills of their staff, members, and community.

We work closely with neighbourhood houses, climate organizations, organizations that support newcomers and immigrants and labour groups. For example in 2024, we delivered 30 workshops to groups including South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, Marpole Neighbourhood House, MOSAIC, Vancouver District Labor Council, and Kickstand.

Which projects/initiatives from the last year are you most proud of, and why?

In 2024, we released the 2-Year Accountability Report for the Hot Pink Paper Campaign. We engaged with residents and community organizations to identify priority issues that shaped the Hot Pink Paper Campaign during the 2022 Vancouver election. All current city councillors, including Mayor Sim, committed to implementing our policy asks. 

We continue to monitor council’s agenda and track voting records to keep the communities that shaped our policy asks in the loop on whether their elected representatives are making meaningful progress, maintaining the status quo, or moving backwards. 

Our 2-Year Accountability Report is an important project because equity-deserving communities deserve accountability from elected leaders, not just commitments when it is politically convenient. Our Accountability Report is unique because we continue to show up and amplify the needs of those who are most often silenced in our community.

We are also proud of being a part of many important policy decisions, and resisting policies that would harm communities. In 2024, we raised public awareness on city motions to ban the work of the Integrity Commissioner, to dissolve civic advisory committees, and to reverse the ban of gas in new buildings, an action that would have been a step backward on climate action. We asked the community to take action by reaching out to councillors via email or phone, going to council meetings to speak, and sharing to their communities. 

What is planned for 2025, and how can folks interested get involved?

The best way for folks to get involved in WTC is by becoming a member. We have a monthly webinar members can join, bi-weekly drop-in sessions to receive advice on getting involved in civic systems, and an active online community. 

In 2025, we are focused on reaching more community members through our civic skill workshops, holding the City of Vancouver accountable to their commitments to equity-deserving communities, and starting to plan for the 2026 city council elections across BC. Come and join our amazing community of over 250 members!

The post Building better with Women Transforming Cities appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

Bicycles are critical for Transportation Justice. They enable community participation, the ability to earn an income and access essential services. As Vancouver and the surrounding area fast become one of the most expensive regions in the world, access to this affordable means of transportation has never been more important. 

However, equal access to biking requires comprehensive grassroots efforts to make bikes, and the means to maintain them, more widely available. Yet, at the same time, hundreds of bikes each year are unnecessarily discarded, and the possible longevity of a bicycle’s lifespan goes unrealized. 

OCB is working with the City of Richmond and The International Refugees Support Foundation (IRSF) to tackle both of these issues. Each year the city receives around 500 bikes to its scrap metal depot. Meanwhile, many new families arriving in Canada are struggling to integrate themselves into the city, and access the educational and employment opportunities which are critical for living a fulfilled life here. 

OCB’s latest project, Richmond Bike Reuse Pilot Program is refurbishing discarded bicycles and donating them to newcomers in Richmond. 

“We are gathering bicycles and parts from the Richmond Depot and bringing them back to Our Community Bikes for processing, repair, and refurbishment” says Valerie, the project’s manager. 

Last week, OCB headed down to Richmond to distribute a number of these refurbished bicycles to their new owners.

“We donated 13 bikes with the support of the IRSF, providing valuable transportation for those in need”, Said Mike, OCB’s Pedals for the People Coordinator.

The project, which began in September and will run for a year initially, will not just recycle bikes, it also addresses wider bicycling accessories, which are also placing strain on waste disposal systems, with other parts such as wheels, tires, frames and even baskets included in OCB’s mandate.

Bikes are being distributed through the Pedals for the People (PFTP) program with the help of The International Refugees Support Foundation (an organization based in Richmond providing essential items to help new immigrant families integrate into the community), Vancouver Coastal Health’s Richmond Mental Health Team, and other referral partners.

The post Richmond Bike Reuse Pilot Program provides bikes for newcomers to Canada appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

If you were asked to picture an avid biker or bike mechanic, what would you imagine? Most readers will probably be thinking of a male identifying, maybe middle aged, most likely white, individual. Given the lack of diversity in the bike community, this mental image is perhaps reflective of the space itself.

At OCB, we are trying to change this, creating supportive avenues for people from a range of backgrounds, often those from communities marginalized from biking and transportation, to access opportunities in the biking community and sector.

Starting with young people, instilling a life-long love for riding and sense of belonging in the biking community is essential.

To help achieve this in Vancouver and the surrounding area, Our Community Bikes has received a Community Board grant from the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, and support from ParticipACTION to deliver ‘Future Mechanics’, a structured training program and social space for young people to develop critical mechanics skills and find community through biking. This will complement our East Van Youth Bike Club supported by Jumpstart. 

The Future Mechanics program is seeking to foster a new generation of sustainable, inclusive and affordable transportation, through bringing bicycles, bicycle services and bicycle maintenance skills to marginalized young people in Vancouver. 

Metro Vancouver’s (like many cities in British Columbia) sustainability action plans across the last several years have affirmed goals of making the majority of trips on foot, bike, and public transit, while developing more inclusive and community focused mobility services. However, the lack of affordable and inclusive bicycle services for the city’s youth are inhibiting this agenda. 

Repeated evidence demonstrates that instilling environmentally conscious behaviours in formative years, helps establish life-long relationships with sustainability. Just 4% of children in Canada cycle to school, and over half of children living less than 5 minutes away from school drive there. Affordability of bicycles, knowledge and confidence around maintenance and riding, and access to bicycling communities are critical barriers to increasing cycling amongst young people in Vancouver. 

With this Community Board grant, through the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation and Jumpstart, OCB will tackle youth transportation in a comprehensive way for a sustainable and durable future for active mobility.

“Through our partnerships with charities supporting young people’s biking, we understand the challenges young people in these situations face,” said Nimmi Kanji, Executive Director of the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. 

“We are proud to be able to support Our Community Bikes, with a Community Board grant in order to help them support young people into biking and even pursue a career in bike mechanics, should they wish to embark on this route.” 

This Future Mechanics program, which began in May and will run across the Summer and Fall, also seeks to address the lack of social and equitable learning spaces and resources for youth, by providing a rigorous training program and mentoring, as well as valuable space for attendees to meet and share experiences, thus supporting mental health and physical wellbeing for Vancouver’s young people. 

Want to get involved in the next set of dates? Get in touch with us via email or visit our shop on Main Street or our website to find out more. 

The post Future Mechanics, getting young people pedaling…forever! appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

At OCB, we are all about showcasing the incredible work our sister organizations are doing. We caught up with Bikechain, a non-profit bicycle shop in Toronto working to make cycling and bicycle repairs more accessible for students at the University of Toronto and the wider community. 

Twoey Gray (she/her) from the shop talked to us about their journey and what challenges lie ahead for Toronto’s two wheeled future.

When were you founded, and why?

Bikechain was founded in 2005 by a University of Toronto grad student, ironically named Car!

Car wanted to encourage a cycling culture on campus, and was inspired by the UBC Bike Kitchen and similar DIY workshops emerging around the world. Car knew that the cost of repairing and maintaining bikes was a barrier to making cycling a long-term transportation habit, and wanted to break the cycle of dependence on the commercial cycling industry.

We started offering pay-what-you-can, volunteer-guided bike repairs in a university parking lot, teaching people how to fix their own bikes on a pay-what-you-can basis. Our services quickly became so popular that we expanded into a larger indoor space, and began supporting both students and the wider community.

Today we’re Toronto’s longest running DIY bike space, and operate Monday to Friday with a team of full-time staff and volunteers.

What excites you about riding a bike, and why?

In 2022, I completed a 3000 kilometre solo bike tour from Toronto to Halifax after training for 0 days. The first day of the trip was the longest ride I had ever done. I knew next to nothing about bike maintenance, spent $0 on accommodation, and spent the summer stealth camping or crashing with new friends I met along the journey. The experience cemented my belief in bicycles as instruments for social change.

When I imagined a “cycling community”, I used to think of people like Lance Armstrong – super athletic white guys with million-dollar bikes. Instead, I met punks, runaways, and working people. People who rode to stay sober or sane. The cyclists I encountered were sustainability-minded, active in their communities, and creative in uplifting one another. When we travel by bicycle, we’re at eye level with our neighbours and immersed in our environment, and the effects are contagious.

I thought that journey would teach me a lot about my independence (and it did!) but instead I learned so much about interdependence and how connected we really are.

What are some of the leading challenges facing the Toronto community when it comes to accessible biking? And particularly for the student community?

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has recently introduced legislation to remove existing bike lanes and prevent new bike infrastructure from being built. It’s an absolutely ridiculous premise that even his own party’s research has confirmed will increase traffic and endanger both drivers and cyclists. But it was never about making roads safer or more efficient – it’s another culture war dogwhistle.

For student cyclists, who are a huge demographic at Bikechain, affordability and confidence are major barriers. Youth are under more financial pressure than ever, and the average commercial bike shop is not financially accessible. If nobody taught you how to ride or fix a bike as a young kid, there are precious few spaces to learn as an adult.

How does Bikechain confront these challenges, and what is unique about your approach?

At a traditional bike shop, you drop off your bike, it disappears into a mysterious back room, and you pay $100 for it to reappear fixed. This leaves you in the exact same position if the problem ever happens again. At Bikechain, we disrupt this knowledge gatekeeping by teaching you to fix your bike yourself. We provide the tools and parts, and a mechanic stands with you to help diagnose issues and demonstrate repairs, but the customer is the one actually turning the wrench. Imagine a tool library with expert assistance on deck – that’s Bikechain!

This not only saves cyclists a ton of money, but exercises our right to repair, reduces waste, and supports cycling as an everyday habit. 

We work very hard to be a beginner-friendly and inviting space. Every week we hold repair hours just for women and trans people, since a lot of people of marginalized genders have had negative experiences in bike shops. We also rent bikes for free to University of Toronto students, lead group rides around Toronto, and host workshops about cycling topics designed to welcome people into the world of bikes.

When we travel by bicycle, we’re at eye level with our neighbours and immersed in our environment, and the effects are contagious.

How do you think the bike industry and local governments can best support community/non-profit initiatives like yours?

The commercial bike industry should see spaces like ours not as competition, but as institutions that promote and increase cycling as an everyday practice. That is very good for business!

Governments should invest in policies and practices that support cyclist safety, like expanded bike infrastructure. They urgently need to address the cost of living crisis and the climate emergency. The people who get around by bikes are disproportionately impacted by the effects of these. I always say that the average cyclist is not a Tour de France racer – the average cyclist is someone who cannot afford the bus.

I have a dream that one day, climate-cognizant cities will recognize bike workshops as a public necessity and publicly fund them in the way we fund libraries. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a bike kitchen in every neighborhood?

You coordinate a range of programs and initiatives. Based on the learnings from these, what advice would you give to other community bike initiatives?

We’ve had 20 years to develop our range of programming. I am of the belief that it is better to do a few things well than do many things poorly. If you’re volunteer-run or operating on limited resources, it’s important to remember your priorities and deliver on your core mission, and ignore the rest.

I would also pay special attention to the emotional environment of your space. A lot of us haven’t sat down and learned a new skill since we were in school, so learning bike repair can raise a lot of insecurity. Learning to ride a bike as an adult can be incredibly overwhelming, and many people have complex or painful reasons that they never had the opportunity before. Sometimes I hear people say they find bike co-ops intimidating or intense. This is the opposite of what we want! You can have the most knowledgeable team in the world, but a space that is not inclusive ultimately creates more barriers instead of dismantling them.

You work with a range of partners across the city on a variety of programs. What are some of the new partnerships and programs going on this year which you are excited about?

I’m most excited about our group ride calendar! We lead rides every week to help foster the cycling community and promote cycling downtown. We have a very fun bookstore crawl coming up for Independent Bookstore Day, travelling to three local bookshops doing important work in education and advocacy.

We’ll also be offering a number of mobile repair clinics throughout the summer. I’m looking forward to partnering with a number of other rad community orgs to reach people who ordinarily might not know about our space.

If you could recommend one bike route around Toronto for somebody new to the city, what would it be?

I lived for a time on Toronto Island, which is a short ferry ride from downtown. Around 600 people live on the Island, and since cars can’t travel on the ferry, the Island is a bikes-only community. I recommend taking the ferry to the Island and riding around the neighbourhood to see the variety of unique bike trailers, baskets, and tandem setups. It’s not uncommon to see groceries, large furniture, and building supplies travelling by bike cart. It’s a great case study for what a car free Toronto could be like.

Credit for all images belongs to Bikechain

The post Disrupting Toronto’s mobility milieu with Bikechain  appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

At the end of 2024, Vancouver released its annual active mobility figures, heralding the growing rate of cycling, expansion in infrastructure, and safety improvements. 

These are feats which Vancouver – like municipalities across the globe- clamor to celebrate, and rightly so given the instrumentality of active travel in reducing transport-related emissions. 

However, alongside growing rates of bicycling, comes a growing volume of waste as discarded bicycles pile up in landfills having reached the end of their lives. In fact, it is estimated that almost 48,000 bikes are sold each day around the globe, with 15 million discarded each year. In the USA alone each year, 10 million inner tubes end up in landfills.

This bicycle waste is a growing significant burden on municipalities’ resources, with towns and cities across the country (and indeed the globe) struggling to process the overwhelming volume of discarded aluminum, steel and rubber… all of which are recyclable!

With the popularity of e-bikes continuing to rise, this problem is about to get a whole lot more complex.

As Our Community Bikes’ Cavan Hua told a recent global study into bike recycling, bicycles are in fact incredibly complicated to recycle, and in many cases refurbishment is not possible.

“Some of the bikes that get donated to us, realistically, are beyond repair. People mean well but a lot of the times the bikes, especially this past year with the pandemic, only about 10-15% are actually usable for the shop … Pre-pandemic the numbers were much healthier, like around 30-40% of bikes that are donated to us were able to be refurbished”

Part of this problem is the production line. Major bike manufacturers including Giant, Specialized and Trek have pledged to clean up their production lines, implementing more rigorous reuse and recycling procedures and policies; meanwhile voices like Shift Cycling Culture have called for a comprehensive move away from linear cultures towards a more circular economy in the bicycle industry. These changes are of course to be celebrated, however, as yet, they have not had the substantive impact on bicycles’ lifecycle required to meet sustainability goals.

At the other end of the spectrum, failure to inject resources into recycling and reuse initiatives has bolstered this growing mountain of waste.

However, Our Community Bikes has found a solution. By collecting used bicycles, refurbishing them and donating final products and individual parts to those in need across Vancouver and beyond, OCB is slowly eroding the mountains of bikes clogging up landfills.

Every year, OCB receives hundreds of bicycle donations from individual donors and partner organizations including KidsSafe, Sanctuary Cafe, United Strangers and many others across the city and region. 

This is successfully slashing bicycle waste in a measurable way.

“We were able to save 72 tonnes of CO2 in 2023 with potential further reduction of 1163 tonnes. This is the equivalent of 5.5 million kilometres of driving saved each year!” Says Sarah Thomas, OCB’s Executive Director. 

These efforts are not just good for the planet, they are invaluable for Vancouver’s local cycling community. Through its Pedals for the People OCB is able to donate refurbished bicycles to those in need. Indeed, in 2023 alone, 255 bikes were donated; which, aided by the Oppenheimer Park Clinic which provides free bike servicing, is extending the lifespan of bicycles on Vancouver’s streets.

OCB’s latest project, Bicycle Recycle, Reuse, and Repair Pilot, a partnership with the City of Richmond will now bring this valuable work to Vancouver’s neighbor. 

Bike waste is a challenge Richmond City knows all too well. Each year the city receives around 500 bikes to its scrap metal depot.

“We are gathering bicycles and parts from the Richmond Depot and bringing them back to Our Community Bikes for processing, repair, and refurbishment” says Valerie, the project’s manager. 

The project, which began in September and will run for a year initially, will not just recycle bikes, it also addresses wider bicycling accessories, which are also placing strain on waste disposal systems, with other parts such as wheels, tires, frames and even baskets included in OCB’s mandate.

“While many of the bikes may not be refurbishable in their entirety, we will be able to reclaim usable parts to repurpose to their highest and best use. Parts that can be reused on another bike will be, those that are no longer road-worthy will be recycled or distributed to people for crafts and art projects where possible,” Valerie continues.

And the refurbished bikes? They will head to a new home, distributed through the Pedals for the People program with the help of The International Refugees Support Foundation (an organization based in Richmond providing essential items to help new immigrant families integrate into the community), Vancouver Coastal Health’s Richmond Mental Health Team, and other referral partners.

“Bicycles have been identified as something that would be useful for many families to help with transportation and navigating the city,” asserts Valerie.

Are you a Richmond resident and seeking to secure a bike? Apply online to the “Pedals for the People” program HERE.

The post Refurbish & reuse to provide a ride for refugees  appeared first on Our Community Bikes.

Indeed, across North America, despite economic challenges, the cycling industry is pulling together to support more sustainable, more inclusive biking in their local communities.

To find out more about how these partnerships are being developed, and the impacts they are having, we caught up with Portland Design Works, a US based company, which has been pioneering in their words: ‘beautiful, simple gear for everyday cycling’, while elevating community initiatives and greener ways of working.

How were you founded and how have you grown? 

A couple other folks and I started Portland Design Works back in 2008 because we didn’t see a whole lot of fun, design-oriented bike accessories out there. At the time we were living in Madison, Wisconsin, but Portland was the center of cycling culture in America so we sold our homes and used the equity we had to move across the country and start PDW. We had to survive on ramen and peanut butter sandwiches those first few years but we eventually got to a point where business was more steady. At least as steady as it ever gets in our little industry.

We’ve fluctuated between two and five full-time employees over our 17 years in business, so we’re still quite small. We’ve always been more focused on being a sustainable business than growing the company every year. As long as everyone makes a living wage and has healthcare we consider that a success. 

What was the market you were trying to fill/reach when you began? 

We started in 2008 so we were really focused on accessories that would look good on custom city commuter bikes and fixies. There was an explosion of custom frame builders at the time making really beautiful city bikes with full rack and fender setups. A lot of those builders were saying customers would balk at the extra cost of, for example, a $600 custom rear rack for their bike. But every off the shelf product looked really basic and utilitarian and not at home on a unique custom bike. So, we started designing gear that would be functional but also look really good, really unique. 

Sustainability is a core part of your operations. Can you tell me a bit more about how you have shifted towards sustainable practices, and the challenges you have faced in this?

We’ve had a focus on sustainability since day one. With every product we develop, we take into consideration re-buildability, materials, packaging, etc. 

We also look beyond the product to how we power our office/warehouse (wind,) how much we travel by air, and how we commute to work. I think one of the biggest challenges we face is how to allocate our resources for sustainability. For a while, we tried to do it all. We purchased carbon offsets, donated 1% of top-line revenue to environmental organizations, and supported grassroots cycling advocacy organizations, but we quickly found out that we couldn’t afford to do everything, and we settled on really focusing on local bicycle advocacy groups because they are the most relevant to what we do and what we know.

Where do you see some of the residual challenges for the cycling sector in developing more sustainable practices?

For small businesses like us, a lot of it is just waiting for larger companies to invest in sustainable options or use their buying power to pressure suppliers to offer more sustainable packaging and materials. If Portland Design Works asks for 10 rolls per year of biodegradable pallet wrap from a packaging company they wouldn’t even bother to respond. If General Mills says they’ll order 10 million rolls, then the idea is taken seriously, and that option becomes available for all of the packaging company’s customers.

Cycling is often seen as a male (often white) pursuit. One of your slogans is #gearforallkinds, and you design gear for a range of different styles of cyclists and riders. How do you feel the cycling industry can better cater to, and encourage, riders from different backgrounds?

I think there are a couple of things we can do. First, show a wider variety of people riding in social posts and marketing materials. I’m not talking about just a more multi-racial mix of models. I’m talking about showing people who are older, who are younger, who are heavier, taller, shorter, etc. A more diverse group of humans. 

The second thing is trying to show people that cycling is normal and there isn’t a high bar to entry. You don’t have to identify as a “cyclist” to ride a bike to work or to meet your friends out. You can just hop on your bike in your jeans and start pedaling. This kind of mentality exists in cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, but it seems like in North America cycling is seen as something done by a specific tribe and if you don’t have all of the right clothing and components you won’t fit in. The cycling industry needs to sell cycling as simple, enjoyable, and not some kind of big deal. Normalize riding! Does that make sense?

You give away some of your profits to 1% for the planet, and support a range of local cycling programs and projects. What motivates you as a company to support these grassroots initiatives? 

There have been years we’ve given ALL of our profits (and more) to 1% For the Planet organizations. We support those organizations because we want more people riding bikes and those organizations remove barriers to riding by giving away bikes, lobbying for better infrastructure, etc.

What have been some of your memorable collaborations with these?

There have been so many that it’s hard to single out one or two. Naturally, some of our strongest and longest partnerships have been with local Portland groups like the Northwest Trail Alliance and Community Cycling Center. 

What are some of the leading challenges you are seeing these grassroots initiatives facing? (financial, community engagement etc)

It usually comes down to people. If you can get a dynamic leader who knows how to fundraise and inspire volunteers then you’re going to be okay. It’s always a struggle being a nonprofit and sustaining the organization, but with great leadership you can make it happen. I’ve seen a lot of organizations either rise or fall on the strength of leadership over the years.

How do you feel others in the cycling sector can support these community initiatives? And what advice might you give an organization like yours seeking to do so?

Well, you probably have time or money but not both. When PDW didn’t have a lot of money we donated our time by volunteering to table at events, organize trail building parties, etc. As the business took off and we got busier, we shifted to more monetary donations and product donations to raise money through raffles and membership gifts and such. 

I once heard the leader of a mountain bike advocacy organization in Minnesota say that you’re not a real mountain biker unless you either volunteer to build trails for 10 hours a year or donate $100 to support trails per year. That makes sense to me.

It doesn’t matter how you support cycling, but support it! 

The post “It doesn’t matter how you support cycling but support it!” Portland Design Works on better biking for all appeared first on Our Community Bikes.