Bike Edmonton

Edmonton Bicycle Commuters' Society

Website	http://www.edmontonbikes.ca
Founded	1980
Location	Edmonton, Canada
Language	English
Services Offered	DIY Repair Services Mobile Repair Services Earn-A-Bike Services Bicycle Valet Services Workshops Bicycle Courses Women and Trans Programs
Mission Statement	To make every day cycling in Edmonton safer and more widespread by providing bicycle services, resources, education and advocacy. We promote the bicycle as a healthy, economical and ecologically sound mode of travel.

The Bike Edmonton has been a leader in the Edmonton and area environmental and cycling community since 1980. Our goal is to support the bicycle as a healthy and ecologically sound mode of everyday urban travel.

Contact Info

Mail

Edmonton Bicycle Commuters' Society Box 1819 Station Main Edmonton AB T5J 2P2

e-Mail

info@edmontonbikes.ca

In Person

South Edmonton: 10047 80 Ave NW (Back Alley) Edmonton AB T6E 1T4

North Edmonton (opening April 2012): 9305 111 Ave NW Edmonton AB T5G 0A2

Phone

• South location: 780-433-BIKE (2453)
• North location: (not yet available)

Website

• http://www.edmontonbikes.ca/
• http://www.cycleedmonton.ca/ (advocacy)

History

In 1980, a group of like-minded, bicycle-commuting enthusiasts decided it was time to band together to encourage and help more people to get around Edmonton by bicycle. On August 1 of that year, the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters’ Society was officially born!

The original idea was to provide a do-it-yourself bike shop and bike recycling service to commuter cyclists in Edmonton. The EBC community bike shop, Bikeworks, is still the heart of EBC, but the organization has done much, much more over the last thirty years.

In the early 1990s, EBC launched a festival to celebrate the wondrous machine that is the bicycle! Lunar Cycle, which ran for six years before the main organizers moved on to bigger and better things, was a celebration of all things bikey, and included events such as bike-to-work breakfasts, participation in the silly summer parade (with our lovely cow-on-a-bike mascot), advocacy outreach, a critical mass ride and many other events.

Since 2001, Lunar Cycle has been reincarnated and expanded by EBC members and others in the community in the annual June Bike Month celebrations, centred around the weekend-long Bikeology festival.

The Rails to Trails initiative was also developed in the 1990s by a core group of EBC members. The vision of Rails to Trails was to convert unused rail corridors in the city into a network of multi-use trails for cyclists and pedestrians. While not as expansive as envisioned, What EBC advocated for has essentially been adopted by the City of Edmonton’s Ribbon of Steel project. Although our participation is obscured in the past, WE know that the kernel of the idea began with us and was championed by others.

The Bikes on Buses initiative - to encourage the city to equip Edmonton Transit buses with racks for bicycles - was started by former EBC president Tooker Gomberg, one of our more active (and infamous) members, who was by that time, on City Council. It continued when the Edmonton Transit System called up and asked if we would consider funding - via a grant - racks for other routes, which EBC successfully accepted. The program has been operating since 1996 within the City of Edmonton. The current City of Edmonton Active Transportation plan calls for bike racks to eventually be available on all buses.

Since its inception, EBC has been committed to reducing the environmental impact of bicycles past their prime. We continue to accept used bikes and strip them of parts that can still be used to stock our low-cost parts room. Unsalvageable parts and bikes are sent to be melted down and recycled. In 2006, EBC expanded our recycling program by partnering with the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, Mountain Equipment Coop, and a number of bike stores in Edmonton to pilot a project to collect and recycle bicycle tires.

The many changes in the location of BikeWorks are also renowned among longstanding members. We started out on Jasper Avenue before moving to 105 Street and 85 Avenue, and then to someone’s car! The next actual building was the Quonset hut between Calgary Trail North and South at University Avenue. BikeWorks next location was a space over at the Tile factory in the same yard. That winter was a particularly cold one for intrepid BikeWorks mechanics, as there was no heat in the Tile Factory. Walter Gobel donated a wood burning stove, and we stayed warm by burning extraneous bits of paper.

We experienced some difficulty with vandals, so, when our landlord, the Alberta Government, sold the property to NAIT the following winter, many welcomed the move to our new location. In 2000 we moved EBC into our present home - a much-needed larger, more visible space which has allowed us to expand the services we offer to the community and improve our revenues by carrying more inventory and being in a more accessible space. In 2012, EBC returned to the North side, leasing a warehouse at 111 Ave and 93 St. This represented the first time we had operated two locations simultaneously.

It’s been a long ride for EBC, marked by chaos; rusty clunkers; insolvency and solvency; some new, shiny parts; constant moves; enthusiasm; thousands of used bikes coming and going; amazing volunteers; happy staff; beautiful, sane members; lots of learning; bent tools; crazy people pretending to be sane, then insisting that bikes be made available to them to cycle to Ontario in October; building mezzanines and taking mezzanines down; pizza; bikes and wheels swinging from the rafters and piling thick on the floor; bitter staff; relentless staff; bike movies; lunar cycling; overflowing storage rooms; great conversations over broken bikes; art bikes; staying warm by the light of the wood burning stove; donations from other bike shops; bikes stolen; and on and on and on. For over 30 years, EBC has been proud to promote commuter cycling and sustainable energy technology.

Non-profit groups are generally run by the seat of their pants and the kindness of strangers, and EBC is no exception; there was a time when being the president of EBC meant paying the organization’s rent. But through it all and thanks to our committed members and many volunteers (to say nothing of the various funders we’ve had over the years, including CanadaTrust Environment Fund, EcoTrust, the Wild Rose Foundation and numerous casinos), we have prevailed to become the group we are today: a slightly obscure, hardworking fringe element teaching and assisting people in their choice to commute by bicycle.

Services Offered

BikeWorks DIY Shop

EBC operates BikeWorks, a fully equipped, volunteer-run community bicycle shop. We have general purpose tools and many of the specialty bicycle tools you need to repair and maintain your two-wheeler.

With help and guidance from our trusty volunteer mechanics, anyone (even those without any mechanical experience) can do their own repairs and perform their own maintenance.

BikeWorks also carries a large stock of used parts so you can replace defective components at a very reasonable cost.

The BikeWorks Guide is a comprehensive guide to the operation of BikeWorks: Media:BikeWorks_Guide.pdf‎

Recycling

EBC's mandate includes recycling. We accept donations of bicycles and parts, and will refurbish, reuse, and recycle them. We recycle metal as well as rubber (tubes and tires).

Cycling education

We offer courses for adults to learn to ride, children with special needs to learn to ride, as well courses on on-road cycling for cyclists of all ages and skill levels (emphasizing riding safely and effectively). We also offer basic mechanic courses, specialized courses (e.g. wheel building), mechanic training courses (to become a mechanic), and topical courses (e.g. introduction to winter riding).

CAN-BIKE courses are offered through EBC. The Canadian Cycling Association's CAN-BIKE program are courses oriented toward recreational and utilitarian cycling, focused on cycling safely and enjoyably on the road. The CAN-BIKE cycling safety program provides a nationally standardized set of courses that can be taught through a variety of organizations who are interested in education, safety and health.

CAN-BIKE Instructors are nationally certified highly skilled cyclists and instructors.

Ghost Bikes

Ghost Bikes are small and somber memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign near the crash site, accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel.

EBC sets up ghost bike memorials around the city as tributes to individuals, and reminders to all cyclists and drivers.

Women and Transgendered

We have regular days where the shop is only open to women and transgendered persons.

Other services

• Low-cost bicycles (typically between $30-100)
• Trailer rental
• Bicycle rental
• Secure bicycle parking at events around the city
• Advocacy for cyclists
• Bikes on Buses
• Bicycle events (June is Bike Month, commuter race, bike-to-work breakfasts)
• Bike Route Blockers
• Stolen Bikes in Edmonton

Location

• EBC South Location on Google Maps
• EBC North Location on Google Maps

See Also

• Community Bicycle Organizations