On yer bike: a great way to get around during physical distancing

by Alayne McGregor

UPDATE (April 23): re-Cycles is now open for limited sales of bikes and parts. They will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., and will also accept donated bikes. See @recyclesottawa for more information.

Update May 22: Kunstadt Bikes has reopened its stores.

Got a bike? Now is the time to ride it. Now as never before, cycling is a great choice for getting around Centretown.

On your bike, you can keep physical distancing, get needed exercise, and enjoy more of the outdoors further away from your home. A bike will get you to the grocery store and your workplace, and allow you to carry a larger load. Traffic is noticeably lower right now, making it easier to cycle.

And local bike stores–which are, thankfully, considered an essential service–are still open to sell you tools and parts, and to service your bike.

Before riding, do a basic safety check on your bike, especially if it hasn’t been used in a while:

Can your front and back brakes quickly stop the bike? Are your tires inflated to the recommended pressure? If they’re low, you’re more likely to get a flat tire, especially if you hit a pothole. If your bike has been parked over the winter, you will want to re-oil your chain and ensure it’s in good condition and not showing any rust. Are any spokes missing, broken, or loose on your wheels? If so, you need to get the wheels retrued before they get worse. Are all the various screws tight? Can you easily and smoothly shift gears?

Check your bike carefully, and decide what work you can do yourself.

If you need tools or parts like chains, tires, or tubes, phone or email your local bike store or order from their website: most stores we talked to can arrange for pick-up at the door, while others offer delivery with online ordering.

Alternatively, you can schedule a tune-up at a local shop, and drop off and pick up your bike. You’ll need to make an appointment. Fresh Air Experience says they can do flat repairs and minor adjustments on the spot, although you may need to leave your bike. Full Cycle offers free shipping and some local deliveries.

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All stores are restricting interaction: McCrank’s is asking clients to just drop off their bikes for repair; the staff then sanitize the bike, check it out, and contact the client to confirm the repair costs. Fresh Air and Full Cycle are limiting the number of clients in the store to one at a time. Tall Tree is setting up 30-minute appointments for selling bikes via phone, chat, and video.

The volunteer-run re-Cycles Community Bicycle Shop has been a great resource for cyclists, where they can buy bike parts and used bikes, learn how to do their own repairs, and use the shop’s repair space and tools for a small hourly charge. Its shop at 473 Gladstone Avenue at Bronson is currently closed; the shop has said on twitter that it has “at least 400 bikes ready for sale, and we know that folks need and want them (not to mention that bike sales pay most of our rent). We’re trying to figure out if it’s even possible to sell them safely.”

Sharing the re-Cycles location is the social enterprise Cycle Salvation, which refurbishes and sells donated bikes while also training people for jobs as bike mechanics. Both it and re-Cycles are excellent sources for reasonably-priced used bikes.

Cycle Salvation is still accepting donations. Its operation manager, Rob Robitaille, says bikes and bike parts can be dropped off outside at their shop and staff will bring them in. Their team is “hard at work continuing to refurbish bikes for the spring season.”

They’re currently working on a process where their bikes for sale will be displayed online and they will offer curbside pick-up, he said. Since they cannot currently provide their regular hands-on bike fitting service in a safe fashion, he said, they’ll specify sizes and approximate height recommendations for each bike. “It’s not ideal, but we want to keep our team and our customers safe and ensure social distancing throughout the process.” Neither re-Cycles nor Cycle Salvation could specify a date when they might fully reopen.

cyclesalvation.org

re-cycles.ca