Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen

Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen is a non-profit, volunteer run organization dedicated to teaching people how to fix their own bikes. We offer a place to learn and teach all things bicycle to all members of the community.

Mission Statement

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen exists to promote cycling as a low-cost, alternative form of transportation; enable self-sufficiency through knowledge of bicycle maintenance; and promote bicycle safety through education and classes.

Shop structure

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen operates with a figurehead Board of Directors, composed of the legally required officers: President, Secretary, and Treasurer. This group has delegated all policy and management to a "Core" group of around a dozen volunteers holding special assignments (financial coordination, shift management, volunteer coordination, and so on). Consistent volunteers are invited to a "staff" group of anywhere from 20 to 50 volunteers.

All other persons in the shop are "patrons." Patrons are expected to donate money or time in exchange for the Bike Kitchen's services; Earn-A-Bike program participants are considered patrons paying for their bike with time, rather than as volunteers in the shop.

Keys

In general, the Core list is congruent with the list of non-vendor keyholders.

Services Offered

Earn-A-Bike

Participants must complete ten hours (usually three shifts) of in-shop volunteering at any tasks. Participants are not allowed to work on the bike they will be taking home, but may work on others. At the completion of the ten hours, they receive a bike of our choosing, up to one a year, with exceptions rarely made with the shop manager's approval.

DIY maintenance

Tools and a stand are provided (a $5 donation is recommended) to anyone looking to borrow tools to work on their bike. For most shifts, volunteers are available to answer any maintenance questions and help ensure patrons learn mechanical skills at no extra charge.

Sales

Donated used parts are available. Generic parts are each sold for $5 or less, with higher-end parts held in a display case and marked with a special price. Used tubes are given away, but are uninspected and any patches necessary to fix a tube are available if the tube will be patched in-shop.

Donated used bikes are available, priced based on the bike's operating condition and level of quality.

No tools are sold. No new parts are sold, other than cables and housing.

Mobile fixery

A small mobile unit is set up to provide basic maintenance at festivals and special events. Most mobile repairs are done by volunteers, rather than by patrons. Used parts are not available from the mobile fixery.

Hours

Day	Hours	Open to...
Tuesday	6pm - 9pm	everyone
Wednesday	6pm - 9pm	everyone
Thursday	6pm - 9pm	everyone
Friday	10am - 2pm	everyone
	6pm - 8pm	kids and families
Saturday	12pm - 4pm	everyone

History

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen started in early 2006 with a post to the internet forum CraigsList. It quickly grew into an an actual shop working out of the BrickHouse's space on Broadway in Oak Park in June, 2006. After two years of solvency and serving an underprivileged community in Oak Park, the shop moved to a more centralized space in midtown, picking up a different underprivileged community (an unofficial slogan is "fleecing hipsters to help the homeless") and opening up the option of special events with midtown's signature "Second Saturday". Operations at the new shop began with a big Second Saturday party in January, 2009.

Contact Info

 Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen
 1915 I Street
 Sacramento, California, USA

 http://sacbikekitchen.org/
 mailto:info@sacbikekitchen.org

See Also

• Community Bicycle Organizations