HomeNeighborhood Bike Works
Neighborhood Bike Works would be very grateful to receive donations of bikes and metal futon frames as people move out of their Penn housing or off-campus apartment.
We like bikes of all kinds and ages. If your bike is in good condition, chances are we can use it.
Things we especially like include:
- Road bikes, mountain bikes, and cruisers of all sizes. They
should be bikes from a bike store rather than a department store. We
don't have room for every bike someone might give us; if your bike is a
Huffy, AMF, Free Spirit, Roadmaster or Magna mountain bike we probably
can't use it. These brands are OK for one-speeds, though.
- Classic bikes. Bring on the banana seats, the rod brakes, the
vintage track bikes. We'll find someone to love it like it deserves to
be loved.
- Tandems, rickshaws, adult trikes, etc. which are ready for
the road. Again, useful for the fleet and for parades.
- Parts, tools, grease, and rags! Things get used up pretty
quickly, and we always need more.
- Wind trainers, rollers, etc.
- Office supplies and snacks including: pens, pencils, stamps,
copy paper, water, 3-ring binders, etc.
- Metal futon frames—the kind that fold into a couch. We cannot use wooden frames, and we don't want the mattresses. Just the frames!
There are some we can't use:
- NO Things which are not actually bicycles: scooters, roller-skates, exercise bikes, children's toy tricycles, and so on.
- NO Bicycles meant for very young children. Our youngest students are
eight; most are in middle school. While we need lots of bikes with 20"
wheels, we can't use smaller stuff.
- NO Very low-end bicycles. If it came from a big box store and cost
less than $100, it's probably more work to maintain than it's worth.
Likewise, if it weighs 50 pounds and has steel wheels and isn't vintage
or otherwise seriously cool, not many people will want to put the effort
into bringing it back to life.
- NO Very badly damaged bicycles. If you bent, buckled, or broke the frame in an accident, or if you can't see the frame for the rust, it's not safe. Sometimes we can salvage parts from these. If you're donating a bike for salvage and frame damage isn't readily apparent, please alert the person accepting your donation.
Times to bring donations are:
- Noon-9:00pm Monday–Thursday
- Noon-6:00pm Friday
- 9:30-6:00pm Saturday
- 6:30-9:00pm Sunday
Please check the web site for exactly how to get into our building:
http://www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org/contact/index.html
Even if you know the campus well, it is still sometimes hard to find our door!