Community Bike Shops - Part 5

Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to visit a handful of community bike shops around the United States. This is the fifth of five posts to show the shops I've seen first-hand, even if I stopped by when they were closed.

Community bike shops (also called community bike projects or co-ops) tend to be non-profit organizations with brick-and-mortar locations that serve the specific bicycling needs of a community. Some have large budgets and paid staff, others are completely volunteer-run. Most shops have a mission statement, which is the best way to learn about what they do and how they operate.

The general model:

• Reduce the barriers of entry to cycling by taking donated bicycles and parts to be salvaged, rebuilt, and sold at very affordable prices;
• Empower people with knowledge of how to repair and maintain their own bikes with either classes or DIY shop space and tool libraries;
• Most shops host events; either for fun, education, or fund-raising; 
• From my experience, they also function as safe spaces for people to hang-out.

The shops I've been to are geographically distant from one another, but the similarities are evident. I highly recommend seeking out a co-op bike shop in your neighborhood or the next time you are traveling. Supporting them with a purchase or donation is a great way to share the love of bikes with others.

Authors's Note: I drafted this post back in January 2020, but fell off the internet during the Covid pandemic. I'm publishing it now in 2025, even though it appears Green Bike has relocated to a different building in Waldport since my last visit. Their new address is 320 NE Grant St, Waldport, OR. 

Green Bike Co-Op
Waldport, Oregon

Waldport is a small town of about 2,000 residents on the Oregon Coast. It's mostly a tourist destination these days and we were there as tourists in November 2019 for a small family reunion. Driving through town on historic US highway 101, my daughter spotted the Green Bike Co-op tucked in between a few other small buildings.

I was surprised to find a co-op shop in such a small town. I hopped out of the car to investigate. Sadly, it's winter and they are closed on the weekends, but because of the huge, windowed roll-up doors on the front of the building I can easily see nearly the entire shop inside.

The space is efficiently covered from floor to ceiling with tons of used inventory. I can see a few repair stands, tools, and a cork board covered in photos. There's a food truck in the parking lot in front of the building and I notice a man in line watching me peeking inside and snaping photos.

"It used to be a Texaco," he says. I tell him that we have a co-op bike shop in Tacoma and that I always stop when I find one. He explains that he grew up in the area, moved away, but has recently returned. His house came with a pile of old bikes and the co-op volunteers were very happy to take them all when he showed up to donate them.

The Oregon Coast is a designated bikeway and many riders tour the coast in the summer. I can see why this location would be ideal for bike tourists who need supplies or an opportunity to do some maintenance. The signs in the window indicate that the local bike scene is perhaps just as important as the tourists. I'm a few weeks too early to catch an art festival with a bike theme.

I also spot some steampunk looking table lamps on a shelf that appear to be for sale. Again, here is the art+bike connection that you often see in co-op shops. Whatever it takes to keep the lights on and the wrenches turning.

I do a little digging on their website when I return home and discover that Green Bike is entirely volunteer operated. 

"Green Bike Co-Op began as a community bike sharing program with a fleet of 100 "green bikes" available at no cost for anyone to ride. The Co-Op evolved into a multi-service bike shop which offers tune-ups, rentals, repairs, loaners, sales, use of tools and classes on bike maintenance. Green Bike is a community non-profit program under the umbrella of the Seashore Family Literacy Center."

I'm thinking now that the shed outside the shop may have housed some of those old "green bikes." I'm looking forward to a return trip to Waldport so I can find out.