Redemptive Cycles

Visit to view their bicycle selection, stay to converse with the amazing group of staff and volunteers, leave with a renewed faith in humanity. Sound crazy? Try it. Redemptive is the epitome of a charitable business. All profits go directly towards their charitable endeavors in the community. The most notable effort is their Earn-​A-​Bike program which allows individuals with economic hardship and no other form of transportation work/​learn in their shop for a set period of time (a day’s work, 8−12hrs) to earn a bicycle and gear which is theirs’ to keep. They treat EVERYONE who walks in their shop as a human with something to contribute to the conversation, this includes the many homeless folks who come here looking for help. These guys would give the shirt off their backs to a stranger and they do so proverbially every single day. Monday nights there are fantastic yoga classes ($ 5, y’all! thats crazy!), they have mechanics classes on other nights and a top-​notch group ride every Thursday night at 6:30. 5-​stars just doesn’t seem enough for all the goodness contained in this shop.

I brought my old GT Mountain bike in, which hasn’t been ridden in 15 years, in for a tune up. They cleaned it up, replaced a shifter that wasn’t working, and did it quickly for a reasonable price.

Fantastic Shop!
Everyone there is so nice and it’s clear they love what they do and have a good time doing it
We went to get my husband’s flat tire fixed and the guy who helped us said he was an intern so he was learning, and the shop’s owner Forman (I think) assisted him in fixing our bike — - Forman is a HOOT by the way! What a funny guy! He cracked jokes with us and the intern while teaching him, and us, how to fix the bike, what to look out for, etc– so it was definitely educational for everyone. He also looked at the bike and adjusted some other things that he noticed as well.
For a new tube and labor it was $ 12– very reasonable.
The shop itself is very cool and the outside has amazing street art in the back alley, as well is really cook bike artwork made out of bike parts. Forman and the people at the shop run a very community oriented business and really care about people, not just about money.
They offer weekly community event such as FREE bike workshop classes on wednesdays, and group bike rides weekly as well. They also have low/​no income programs that help people get bikes– like a program where the unemployed can work a day in the shop and get a bike in return– amazing!
Glad that Birmingham has such a wonderful place here that helps a lot of people.

For places like this, I wished Unilocal had a 6 star rate!
Went there with a new B’ham resident that naively thinks that you can move yourself around town by bike, and that was looking for a cheap used bike.
First of all, they got some seriously super cool bikes there. I’m not an expert, but you can easily tell when something is good for real (or at least I can! …joke)
The whole story:
I took a look around and among the worst looking bikes the lowest priced was $ 80. Then I assumed we were not going to find anything cheaper than that.
In the bunch, there was a very cool bike that was in a great shape and had also front and back shocks! The bike didn’t have the price tag, I assumed it was above $ 200, but I still wanted to ask for the price. The guy at the shop quickly understood that my friend didn’t want (have the possibility) to spend much on the bike, so he told us that he didn’t remember the price, that he had to make a call for it, and that in the meanwhile we could test the bike.
We tried the bike, it was working great, the guy came back to us, asked if we liked the bike, when my friend said «sure I love it, but I’m looking for something cheap» the guy said… «well, you can have it for 40 bucks!»
I was shocked!!!
That bike is definitively a hundred dollars bike!
What happened? Simple, here they don’t just sell bikes, they provide you with your bike!
Here is the wrap up story:
Need a bike? Go check out this store, please!
Sometime it happens that nice people run a business with the idea of providing a good service for the community, and not only for their personal good, and that’s really the case here!
Redemptive cycles, your awesome!

Redemptive Cycles is a local shop that makes me proud of Birmingham. It almost seems too good to be true. Their main mission is to provide bikes to people who could otherwise not afford them. People can donate their old bikes, then Redemptive turns around and fixes them up. Once repaired, they are sold at a super low price. Can’t afford a super low price… They even have an earn a bike program. For real. You can work around the shop and help out to earn a bike. Unbelievable.
My worry is that this place is too good to be true. Given the chance, we should all donate or lend a hand to Redemptive. I’d hate to see such a worthy local shop fade away.

Don’t know a lot about this business really, but it feels like a non profit. The people there are so nice and seem to really be glad you are there. You can donate a bicycle there and they will fix it up and put it back into general population! You can also purchase refurbished bikes there too. The prices seem more than extremely reasonable, and you feel good knowing you are recycling a bike! I will definitely be going back to buy a bicycle ASAP!

Redemptive Cycles opened up at as bike shop summer of 2013 in efforts to support their charitable services. Currently they are running as a sole-​proprietor untill their 501c3 is processed. Profits from this business go to sliding-​scale repairs, an earn-​a-​bike program in which homeless and poor can earn a free bike through in shop work, and various cycling events both for adults and youth. They sell only used bikes that are rebuilt or restored except for a small line of Fixie /​SS bikes from StateBicycle. As well they offer full service repairs, parts and accessory sales. My personal opinion of the shop doesn’t count because I work there, just wanted to offer this information about us.
Website

Great bicycle shop for buying vintage and new bikes at a great price. They also do repairs and additions. Had them install new bar tape, front rack, new back tire tube, and a few other odds and ends. Very professional/​quick and by far the best price in town.