Beatty Bike Co-op reopens on Saturday, April 11th

Back in the fall of 2014, Abe Stucky started a small-scale community bicycle cooperative in the garage behind his house at 741 N Beatty St.  In December 2014, he was awarded a Sprout Fund grant to help with the purchase of additional tools and supplies.

The co-op is a two-fold community project with a focus on bicycle repair education:

1. It gives residents a space to learn about bicycle repair and fix their own bicycles.
2.  It encourages biking as an affordable, healthy, and environmentally friendly mode of transportation.

Beatty Bike Co-op should not be seen as a traditional bike shop but rather a “do-it-yourself” educational workshop where East Liberty residents, Highland Park residents, local youth, and others can learn about bicycle repair and eventually share what they learned with others. Cycling is an affordable means of transportation, but many low income residents in Pittsburgh don’t have the financial means to pay for repairs at local bike shop or financial capital to purchase a bike.  The co-op will address these issues by offering free maintenance advice, enabling individuals to do their own repairs.  Additionally, individuals will be able to volunteer and build sweat equity, which in turn can be used to “purchase” a donated bicycle that the co-op receives from Trek of Pittsburgh (or other outside sources).

Now that it is spring, the co-op will reopen the co-op with an open house event.  On Saturday, April 11, feel free to stop by between 9 am and 1 pm for the season opener! There will be coffee and snacks towards the beginning.

Due to the high volume of people at this event, this may not be the best time to work on your bike. Feel free to come back on the following Saturdays (9am-1pm) to learn how to give your bike a spring tune-up!