Build two bikes and keep one for yourself. No previous mechanics experience necessary!
Donate money, volunteer, or pass along your gently used bike for a second life.
Learn the skills to better understand your bike in one of our maintenance classes.
Its May, national bike month, and we invite you to get on a two wheeler and ride the city! Join us at these workshops, sales, rides, and festivities. Come volunteer at shop days or at events. Pick up free bike maps at Bike Fest or fill up on complimentary bagels at Bike to Work Day. Get connected with the RI bike scene now and stay connected all season!
Continue reading→Recycle-A-Bike (RAB) is a volunteer-based community organization that connects people with refurbished bikes, provides practical bike knowledge, and advocates bicycle use by safer, more confident cyclists.
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).
-Dailen V., Volunteer
-Betty B., Board Member
-Nick P., Master Mechanic
12 Library Court, Providence, RI 02909 | (401) 525-1822 | Email
Open Shop: Tues. 5-8pm and Sat. 10am-2pm
Youth under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult.
Bike Donations: During Open Shop or by appointment.
Jenna Yu, Director
Douglas Lewis, Master Mechanic
John Powning, Board Chair
James Baumgartner, Board Treasurer
Mary Bergeron, Board Member
Betty Bourrett, Board Secretary
Kim Caron, Valet Coordinator
James Sawyer, Instructor
Patrick McMillan, Board Member
Will Heublein, Volunteer Mechanic
Dailen Williams, Volunteer Mechanic
Peter Ward, Board Member
Tyrene Jones, Board Member
Ed Raff, Board Member
Perry Gast, Board Member
Build-A-Bike is a six-week program that teaches members of the community how to repair and recycle abandoned bicycles. Participants fix two bikes: keeping one for themselves and donating one 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 held four workshops last year; by December 46 people successfully completed the program, and 92 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 meets twice a week for three hours each session. Participants receive 32 hours of hands-on training for a suggested donation of $200 (but you will not be turned away if you can’t afford it). If you are interested in signing up for the program, please add yourself to the monthly mailing list to receive program updates or stop by the shop to chat with our key members.
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 emailing Jenna. We can’t succeed without you!
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.
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?
We offer an open shop where anyone can drop in to use the RAB tools and space to repair or do routine maintenance on their bike. This is a do-it-yourself model with master mechanics providing technical expertise and guidance. You don’t have to have any bike mechanics experience to join us, but be prepared to get your hands greasy. There is a suggested donation of $5/hr. Used parts are discounted and new parts are determined by the market rate.
We teach bike tune up, maintenance, safe riding, and occasionally we offer more specialized classes. Wrenching Wednesdays, Afterschool Programs, and Refugee Fix-A-Bike programs are just a few of many classes we offer. Email Jenna for further inquiries on taking a workshop or partnerships (schools, community centers, businesses or other groups). Download our new Providence Cycling Map to get the inside scoop from seasoned riders on Rhode Island’s bike paths!
Bike Valet encourages people to bike to destinations and park nearby worry free of their bicycle’s safety. It alleviates car congestion at large events. RAB offers a bike parking service weekly during the summer at the Saturday Farmers Marketat Lippitt Park. Last year, RAB brought the valet stands and parking service to over forty local events. By bringing bike support to events, RAB was able to reach thousands of people promoting cycling and offering riding and repair resources to large, diverse groups of people.
Valet partners with the local farmers markets, Pronk!, Foo Fest, The New England Builders Ball, The New England Biking & Walking Summit, Cyclovia, Cylcocross Races, Rocktucket Block Party, The Woony Ride, Builders Ball, and many others.
If you are interested in having bike valet at your event, contact valet@recycleabike.org.