Working Bikes

Chicago, United States

3.9

Closed now

23 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Map

Streetview

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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
No

Description

Specialties

Volunteering

Used Bicycles

Humanitarian Aid

Social Justice

Resource Recycling

History

Established in 2001.

Lee Ravenscroft founded Working Bikes Cooperative.

The organization collects and repairs old, run-​down bikes, diverting them from the waste stream. It provides bicycles to charity organizations within Chicagoland and ships bicycles to Ghana, Tanzania, Angola, Cuba, Guatemala, and Peru. It sells some in Chicago at low prices. The money earned from the sales goes toward paying for the shipments of bikes and bike parts sent to developing countries.

WBC has changed the aesthetic for what type of bike peoples ride in Chicago. Before the Co-​Op (BC), people were riding mountain bikes from Target. Now they are riding retro 3-​speeds made in Chicago or Europe that they got from Co-​Op.

In the early days of Working Bikes, the organization was run out of a dark Pilsen basement. However, it was never difficult for Lee to find people willing to give their free time to repairing old bicycles for a good cause. «There are many bike enthusiasts in Chicago,» is what Lee says.

He is right.

Meet the Business Owner

Lee R.

Business Owner

Volunteer for the past 10 years and a cycling advocate, fanatic and hopefully your friend on two wheels.