Learn the entire A-Z of bike refurbishing. No previous mechanics experience necessary!
Donate money, volunteer, or pass along your gently used bike for a second life.
We offer classes for youth and adults in bike repair, safe cycling and more.
With the help of our newly hired professional mechanics and our extensive inventory of used and new parts we are now offering a wide array of drop-off repair services.
Can’t yet commit to a monthly donation but still want to contribute? Make a One Time Donation HERE.
Want to double down on your awesomeness and be charitable while you zip around Providence on your bike?
Recycle-A-Bike is organizing a Scavenger Hunt for Charity for this years Cranksgiving, and you’re all invited to help us donate to those in need!
It’s simple. You show up to Recycle-A-Bike on or with your bicycle. Then we give you a manifest of items to purchase and where you have to go to get them on your bike! Once you’ve collected all of your items you zip back to the shop for some hot drinks and donuts. From there RAB will collect all of the items our riders and give you all some gifts (i.e. raffle/drink tickets for the party, custom spoke cards, bike gear etc.) for your good deeds!
There will be two distinct ride options:
Everything that our riders gather will be donated to: Amos House – 460 Pine Street, Providence, RI
From their website:
“Amos House is a leading social service agency in Rhode Island, managing the largest soup kitchen in the state, providing social services to over 15,000 people a year and housing nearly 165 men, women and children a night. More than 500 adults have graduated from its training programs.”
Locations & Items will be disclosed to riders on the day of the event!
$5 a month pays for an hour of service for someone in need, $10 a month gets one student a helmet every month, $20 a month is a scholarship for an Olneyville resident to attend our Build-A-Bike program, $30 a month helps us bring our Pedal Power program on the road to a local Recreation Center, and $50 a month pays for a whole week of Open Shop to be open!
Support the work we do, support our community… donate today!
Educating, empowering, and building community by connecting people and bicycles
Valuable connections are made in our community shop among bicycle riders. By learning and sharing bike maintenance knowledge, people learn to believe in themselves and their community. Our programs make the simple technology of these pedal powered machines available to all with the help of the volunteer staff and general skill sharing.
Mobility on a bicycle is an expression of our freedom and equality! We encourage members of the public to participate in cycling as part of a healthy and active lifestyle – not just as a recreational activity, but also as a viable mode of transportation.
Ride safely on the road. Be predictable, aware, courteous, and confident. Keep riding: you are a legal vehicle with the same rights on the road! Download cycling safety tips from the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen and the Greenways Alliance of Rhode Island (via RIDOT’s Bike RI page).
Edward Raff, Interim-President
Sandra Victorino, Vice-President
Barbara Bentsen, Secretary
Susan Sparks, Treasurer
James Bentsen
Amye Follett
Kurt Teichert
Nancy Hoffman
Christopher Gambardella
Jack Hartman
Gregory Sankey Jr, Director of Operations
Chelsea DeSantis, Open Shop Mechanic & Shop Assistant
Our community bike shop in Olneyville Square provides visitors with the opportunity to find affordable bicycles & bike parts along with the help and training to get their bikes on the road.
If you’re looking for used parts, a bike-project to wrench on, a bike to ride, to donate your old bike/parts or to take a class on bicycle mechanics – you’ve come to the right place.
Come for a visit during Open Shop to get your hands greasy, to get your bike tuned-up, to give back to the community or to make new friends!
–Dailen V., Volunteer
–Betty B., Volunteer
–Nick P., Master Mechanic
1911 Westminster St, Providence, RI 02909
(401) 525-1822
Email Gregory Sankey Jr – Director of Operations
Email Chelsea DeSantis – Mechanic & Educator
This is when you can visit our shop to donate bicycles, work on your own bicycle with the help of a mechanic, bring in a bicycle for us to repair, or buy one of our refurbished bicycles!
Tuesdays: 3PM – 8PM
Saturdays: 10AM – 3PM
Youth (under 15) must be accompanied by an adult, individuals between the ages of 15 & 17 may participate after a permission slip is filled out by a parent or guardian.
Can’t bear to see an unused bike collect dust in the basement or go to a landfill? Donate it to us for a second life! For the past 10 years, we have been refurbishing hundreds of old bikes for newly arrived refugees, students, city youth, and others through programs like Build-A-Bike, Wrenching Wednesdays, and Open Shop.
We accept all kinds of bicycles: cruisers, road, mountain, and BMX bikes. However if the bike has too much rust and appears beyond repair, please take it to a scrap yard. We accept donations of bicycles, bike tools, and bike parts during our open shop hours.
We accept bicycle donations during Open Shop on Tuesdays 5pm-8pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm, please call ahead to make a donation of 5 or more bicycles
Whatever your interest or availability, there is a place for you! Greeting visitors at Open Shop, distributing brochures, and fixing bikes are just a few examples of how you can help out. If you’d like to volunteer, start today by filling out this volunteer form or emailing our Shop Manager. We can’t succeed without you!
Recycle-A-Bike is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Your gift is deductible to the full extent of the law. Watch our 2012 fundraising video!
Where does the money go?
Want to give more? Become a Recycle-a-Bike Sustainer by signing up for a monthly contribution!
Build-A-Bike is a six-session course that teaches members of the community how to repair and recycle abandoned bicycles. Participants fix up a bike, to be donated to our program. In this way, we remove bikes from the waste stream, develop a skill base of mechanical proficiency in the community, and offer affordable mechanics training.
Recycle-A-Bike started Build-A-Bike in the Spring of 2011. We hold five or six workshops per year; last year, 68 people successfully completed the program, and 112 bikes were rebuilt and put back onto the road. As the green economy grows, the need for specialized skills surrounding green transportation rises. Build-A-Bike teaches people how to repair and refurbish bicycles and share that knowledge with those around them.
Build-A-Bike is a 6-session, 18-hour class and is open to all skill levels. Sign up today and build your own wrenching skills!
Next Class Begins: Sunday, October 15, 2017 More information and class registration here.
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Our youth and adult education programs are comprised of basic and advanced coursework on bicycle mechanics, math, science and job training. We’ve also run an Open Shop program, for between two and four days a week, for over ten years. During Open Shop visitors utilize our work bench and tools with the assistance of volunteer & staff mechanics, browse our robust selection of used parts, and our collection of over 100 donated bicycles many being refurbished. Individuals can volunteer during Open Shop hours to earn free assistance in the shop, bicycles and bicycle parts by volunteering in our Earn-A-Bike and Volunteer Points programs. Visitors that are looking to support our shop can also purchase parts, bicycles and accessories for modest prices lower than found anywhere else in Providence County. Open Shop has served thousands of Rhode Island residents since it was implemented.
Open Shop
Everyone is welcome to drop into our space during our open shop hours. Visitors can use our bike stands, specialized tools and space to make repairs or do routine maintenance on their bikes. Used bike parts are available at discounted prices. The price of new parts are determined by the market rate.
This is a do-it-yourself model, where we take pride in teaching visitors how to make the repairs and adjustments, instead of simply doing the work for them. Our in-house Master Mechanics are always on hand to provide technical expertise and guidance. You don’t need any mechanical experience to join us, but do be prepared to get your hands greasy. There is a suggested donation of $5/hour. Anyone may also volunteer during these hours, and time donated helping the shop will earn points which may be traded for parts, or shop time.
The first Wednesday of every month, Recycle-a-Bike will host WTF Wrenching Wednesdays This open-shop-style space is available to people who identify as female, transgender, femme, genderqueer, trans-masculine, trans-feminine, or feel their socialization or treatment as a woman/transperson*/femme has impeded their participation in bike mechanics. If you do not identify with one of these identities, you are kindly asked not to attend this shop time.*
This night is a time to bring your own bike project to work on, pick out a project to volunteer your help with or just to tinker and practice working with the tools. No mechanical knowledge or experience necessary- just an interest in learning! WTF Wrenching Wed will maintain a pop-ed learning culture (no one knows everything and everyone knows something), so we hope to create a kind and respectful learning environment. WTF Wrenching Weds were developed in response to an expressed community need for such a space, drawing inspiration from similar programs nationally and internationally. Click here to see our upcoming WTF Wrenching Wednesdays FB Events, or e-mail Chelsea with any questions.
Pedal Power brings bikes, helmets and qualified bicycle skills instructors to school-age children in and around the Providence area. Over six weekly class sessions, we turn kids who have never ridden or don’t feel comfortable on a bike into safe, confident and skilled bicyclists. They learn skills like turning and stopping and good safety habits like wearing helmets and signaling.
Maybe most valuable of all, we take them outdoors into nature. Most of our classes take place on bike paths, where kids are outdoors and safe. We take time to explore the hiking trails, woods and shorelines, observing plant and wildlife that we encounter.
Bike M&T builds on our past Bike Mechanics internship program, adding a complete new science and math curriculum designed by professional educators. We’ll use bikes and pedal-powered electrical generators to demonstrate and apply core concepts in physics, such as work, friction, inertia, and electricity, together with the underlying math. Along with the science and math, students will master bike repair skills in our fully-equipped Community Bike Shop.
The RI Department of Education has approved our Bike M&T curriculum and plan for inclusion in their Advanced Course Network of out-of-classroom instruction opportunities. Students from any high school in Rhode Island may apply for available spaces. Our full year classes will take place at our shop in Olneyville for six hours per week over the two 15-week school terms. Participating students will earn full academic credit toward their high school science and general graduation requirements. As they work and learn in our Community Bike Shop, students will also see the connections linking academic achievement, work habits and skills and future success in life.
