Climate Watch: How to repair, resell, reuse and recycle your bicycle - Evanston RoundTable

Climate Watch: How to repair, resell, reuse and recycle your bicycle - Evanston RoundTable

Many products are hard to keep in use and out of the landfill (or the basement). But there is one product that is surprisingly easy to recirculate: bicycles. And there are few places in the world where it is easier to do so than in Evanston.

As we approach a season in which new bicycles are given and old bicycles are retired, Climate Watch team has assembled a brief overview of the many local options for your well-loved bikes.

Fix it

Evanston is home to many excellent bike repair shops. These include Wheel and Sprocket, The Pony Shop, Bucephalus Bikes and Mack’s Bike and Goods. If you’d prefer to learn how to fix your own bike, you can take classes at The Recyclery.

Tzippy Rhodes, program coordinator at The Recyclery explains: “We offer a two-session tune up class and a 6-session overhaul class. The tuition is sliding scale. In these classes, we encourage people to bring and work on their own bikes, but we also can instruct using project bikes that are on their way to being matched with recipients through our Freecyclery program. And five times each week, we have open shop hours where people can use our tools and get in-the-moment advice.”

Wheel and Sprocket also offers focused, one-on-one instruction where you shadow one of their mechanics.

Sell it or trade up

With Craigslist, eBay, OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace, there are many online channels to sell your still-valuable bike directly. Just take and upload a picture, fill out a form, post a listing and see if there are any takers. ( Make sure, though, that when buying or selling online, you follow best practices to avoid scams, which are common on online marketplaces.)

Wondering what price your bike can fetch?

You can research that using Bicycle Blue Book. If you prefer transacting in real life, you can go with an old-school garage sale, or you can bring your bike to Play it Again Sports in Evanston Plaza (Dodge just south of Dempster), where owner Mike Hamann and his team will review and make an offer. Hamann suggests calling in advance or sending a picture of the bike.

“Demand varies season to season, and not all bikes can be re-sold — for instance department-store bikes and bikes that require major repair — but we are always happy to help people find their bikes the right home,” Hamann said.

Wheel and Sprocket also gives store credit for trade-ins on certain used bikes after an in-shop evaluation.

Donate it

Both The Recyclery and Wheel and Sprocket accept bikes (as well as parts and tools) in any condition. If the bike can’t be ridden, there are still parts that can be reclaimed, and what’s left over can be scrapped more effectively once rubber and plastic are separated out. Wheel & Sprocket gives its donated bikes to the Chicago social enterprise Working Bikes, which ships them (along with parts and tools) to its partner projects in Africa and Central America. Volunteers at both The Recyclery and Working Bikes fix up many of the donated bikes for community members who need bikes, and both stores sell a wide range of parts and professionally refurbished, high-quality bikes.

“Really, all of our programs are opportunities to learn,” Rhodes said. “Volunteering to fix bikes lets you learn directly from other, more experienced volunteers and learn about other types of bikes. Often, people who take our classes stay on to volunteer and help others in our open shop.”

Gretchen Brauer, general manager of the Evanston Wheel and Sprocket store describes their partnership with Working Bikes as “aligned to our mission. Our philosophy has always been ‘more people on bikes,’ so donations help us fulfill that mission even for those who can’t afford or access the bikes we sell. Also, it’s just fun to help keep a functional bike out of a landfill.”

Enjoy it

Once it’s fixed up, you can use your bike to get around town on a growing network of bike lanes.

The City of Evanston publishes a helpful local map of routes, shops and parking. And you can also get out and about in the wider region. Evanston is at the nexus of a number of excellent regional cycling trails and routes. These include the North Shore Channel Trail, the Green Bay Trail, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour and the Greenview Greenway which leads directly to Chicago’s paved, protected Lakefront Trail that spans 19 miles from Edgewater to South Shore.

CTA, Pace and Metra let you bring your bike on the bus or train, extending your range still further. Find out more and join other riders in group rides organized through the Evanston Bicycle Club.