re-Cycles - Frequently Asked Questions

Please read through this FAQ carefully, as email inquiries asking questions answered here will not get a reply. Also, please do not email us asking about bike or parts availability. Our donated stock can change daily and there's no way for our email volunteer to know what's in the shop at any given time.

1) What does re-Cycles do?
2) What type of bikes do you have for sale?
3) Do you have parts for sale? Do you have a specific part in stock?
4) Do you sell any new items? Locks, helmets, that sort of thing?
5) Will you fix my bike for me?
6) If I want to work on my own bike what do I do?
7) Can I come in for DIY repair during the day?
8) I want to learn bike repair. What can I do?
9) I want to donate a bike. What do I do?
10) I have a bike to donate that's in bad / rusty / hopeless shape. Will you take it?
11) I have a whole bunch of bikes to donate. How many can you take at a once?
12) I have a whole bunch of bikes to donate. Will you pick them up?
13) Do you take tires? I have some that might still have life to them.
14) What happens with the rusted / damaged bikes that you take in?
15) How can I volunteer?
16) You have a bike for sale that I want. Can I put it on hold?
17) In the summer you often don't have very many bikes for sale. Why is this?
18) If I don't get my bike finished in one evening can I store it at the shop?
19) I want to build up a fixed gear bike...
20) Do you donate bicycles and parts to worthy causes?
21) What parts do you have on hand?
22) What sort of tools do you have?
23) Do you have a debit machine or take credit cards?
24) What if I buy a bike from you and decide later I don't like it?
25) Do you do trade-ins?

What does re-Cycles do?

Two things:

We take in donations of unwanted bicycles, and either repair them or scrap them. Most repaired bikes are sold back to the public to cover our overhead costs, while some are donated to other organizations. Scrapped bikes are stripped of usable parts and are disassembled for recycling.
We provide a space for people to work on their own bikes, guided (only in the evening hours) by an on-duty Head Mechanic. Please see our DIY Repair page for details.

Please see our About page for more information.

What type of bikes do you have for sale?

Mostly mountain bikes of all styles, followed by road bikes, hybrids, 3-speeds, cruisers, a few trikes and folding bikes. Even the odd old-school chopper or BMX. We do get some very nice bikes on occasion, but they of course sell very quickly. We do lament that we do not get as many road bikes donated as in years past (perhaps due to the ongoing fixed- gear / single-speed craze), because there is still a great demand for them.

Do you have parts for sale? Do you have a specific part in stock?

Yes, we do have a wide variety of used parts for sale, including some rare and hard to find parts. We cannot tell you whether or not we have a specific part, as everything is donated so our selection can vary from day to day. It's best to stop by the shop to check out what we have in stock.

Do you sell any new items? Locks, helmets, that sort of thing?

We now carry new locks and lights, as well as cables, housing, brake pads, and bearings. And we sell these at proper full retail prices! We do on occasion have new-old-stock (NOS) parts given to us by friendly local bike shops. Everything else we sell is used. We can suggest local pro shops if you need to buy extra items for your bike. (We do not take in helmets and other personal gear and would not re-sell them anyway for safety / health reasons.)

Will you fix my bike for me?

We can help guide you through fixing it yourself, but we do not do any work for you.

If I want to work on my own bike what do I do?

Please see our DIY Repair page for details.

Can I come in for DIY repair during the day?

Not currently.

I want to learn bike repair. What can I do?

You can learn either by volunteering with us and working on our bikes, or by working on your own bike (Please see our DIY Repair page for details). As an incentive, for every hour that you volunteer with us you get an hour of free shop time. We also have our re-Cycles School (formerly Basics Night) program for volunteers, which teaches the basics of bicycle maintenance and repair. Please see our Volunteer page.

I want to donate a bike. What do I do?

You can bring it in any time we are open. We do ask that you not leave bikes outside of our shop when we're closed, as they are likely to get stolen. Please see our Bikes page for details and restrictions.

I have a bike to donate that's in bad / rusty / hopeless shape. Will you take it?

Yes, we take bikes in any condition. Even if a bike is unusable we can sometimes get a few parts from it, and at worst the bike gets recycled as metal scrap and avoids clogging up the local landfill. Again, please see our Bikes page for details and restrictions.

I have a whole bunch of bikes to donate. How many can you take at a once?

If you've got more than ten it would be great if you could let us know ahead of time so we can make room for them. During our busy season our processing area gets clogged if too many bikes come in at once.

I have a whole bunch of bikes to donate. Will you pick them up?

At the current time we do not have a regular vehicle for this. But please contact us and we'll see if anything can be done.

Do you take tires? I have some that might still have life to them.

Yes. And if you give us a bunch of tires and we find a few dead ones that's OK. Note that we can no longer recycle dead tires, so any you give to us just adds to our garbage (that we have to pay for to have taken away).

What happens with the rusted / damaged bikes that you take in?

With such bikes we'll remove any useful parts for reuse or resale. Dead frames and metal parts go into our scrap pile and then get sent to a local metal recycling facility. Roughly one third of the bikes we take in get scrapped, and this is part of the service we offer to the community.

How can I volunteer?

Please see our Volunteer page.

You have a bike for sale that I want. Can I put it on hold?

Bike sales are cash and carry only. We simply don't have the volunteer resources to keep track of bikes on hold and following up to make sure people come back to get their bikes. If you like a certain bike you should buy it when you see it, as most of our bikes sell quite quickly.

In the summer you often don't have very many bikes for sale. Why is this?

Mainly because we can't keep up with the demand! We spend the winter getting every bike we have ready, and come the warm days of Spring they sell like crazy and are usually gone by the end of April. We're always getting bikes ready, but they sell as fast as we get them done. All we can say is to keep coming back if possible and see what we have.

If I don't get my bike finished in one evening can I store it at the shop?

Unfortunately, we have no room to do this. We also don't have the resources to keep track of bikes left in the shop or to be responsible for making sure that their owners claim them.

I want to build up a fixed gear bike...

For your fixed gear project we'll have frames, brakes, handlebars, saddles, and perhaps front wheels, but we almost never have anything fixed-specific. We do advise that the proper, safe way to build a fixed gear bike is with the correct rear hub. There are other methods, but for liability and safety reasons we can neither show them to you nor assist you in doing them.

Do you donate bicycles and parts to worthy causes?

Indeed we do! We are often contacted to help out with fundraising raffles, and school or refugee programs.

What parts do you have on hand?

It really varies, since everything we have (aside from new cables and housing) is donated, and donations of course tend to be rather seasonal. We tend to have lots of mountain bike tires and associated alloy front wheels, but often hardly any good alloy 700C or 27". Lots of brakes and related parts, but often a shortage of decent triple cranksets. Etc...

What sort of tools do you have?

We have most standard bike repair tools, though perhaps not for the latest in bike technology, since we're of course mostly dealing with older bikes. We even have a few frame tools - dropout alignment, derailer hanger, steerer threader. We do not have access to welding equipment for metal repair.

Do you take debit or take credit cards?

As of April 2021 we now take debit, but not credit cards. We will always accept cash as well.

What if I buy a bike from you and decide later I don't like it?

All sales are final. We will only replace a bike if it has a non-repairable warranty issue. Our overhauled bikes have a 30-day warranty on the work we've done. There is a limited 2-week warranty on our "As Is" bikes, meaning if something falls off we'll replace it, but because it did not get a full overhaul we can't guarantee the entire condition of the bike.

Do you do trade-ins?

We do not trade bikes or parts. Why? With us being a volunteer-run organization it's quite difficult to train all of our staff regarding the value of used items. Also, it means that we don't have to deal with those that traffic in stolen bikes.

If you still have questions after reading our FAQ please email us:

Updated April 28, 2022

Copyright 2022 re-Cycles