Recycle-A-Bicycle

Profile

In New York, bike shops and progressive ideologies tend go hand in hand. But the non-profit Recycle-a-Bicycle takes things one environmentally-friendly step further by offering only refurbished models. The shop takes in donated bikes, gives them a complete mechanical overhaul, and then sells them out of their two New York City retail shops, diverting an estimated 1,500 city bicycles from the landfill each year. Because they only sell what’s been donated, the selection is a bit barebones, mainly consisting of ten-speeds from the seventies and eighties and 1990s mountain bikes. There are accessories, too, and though those are sold new, the selection consists soley of necessities like helmets, locks, and lights. As to the bikes themselves, they're all lovingly refurbished�mostly by high-school students under expert supervision as part of a community outreach program. What's not to like about that? — Connor Kilpatrick