Back Alley Bikes - Detroit

MSU Bikes is only hosting this web page & has no other affiliation with Back Alley Bikes.

Contact info:

Back Alley Bikes
 3535 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI, near the intersection of Cass and Martin Luther King.
Google map to the shop
Voice mail (313) 879-5073
Email: backalleybikes@gmail.com

Winter Update 2007 - 2008


Coming soon....  


News Coverage


          
PEDAL POWER: Nonprofit empowers adults, kids by helping them build and repair bikes

Jennifer Youssef / The Detroit News/ Jan. 7, 2008

To Maurice Potts, bicycles were simply large toys, good for just riding around the neighborhood, with no destination in mind. That was before the semi-retired doctor took a class two years ago to learn to build and repair bicycles at Back Alley Bikes, a nonprofit program in Detroit's Cass Corridor that teaches children and adults how to build their own bikes from scrap parts and do repairs.

There, Potts discovered that for many inner-city residents who don't have access to cars and can't afford public transportation, bikes are a tool, a necessity. Full article...

Archives

Winter Update 2006


On Saturday, Dec. 9th, 2006 we had all of the members of the BABs coop and about a half dozen new, to us, faces come and help on our work day. Early in the morning, we loaded about a hundred old rusty junk bikes into a rented truck. A couple of volunteers then drove the truck over to a nearby scrap yard to be unloaded and converted into cash. In the meantime back in the shop, the other volunteers worked on refurbishing the large group of children's bicycles that we have available so that they can be given away to kids. The first ones will be from various church groups on Saturday Dec. 16th. If there are any leftover bikes after that day, we are going to have an open walk in children's bike day on the next weekend, Saturday Dec. 23rd, 2006.


  Right now, we have about fifty bikes completed and another twenty five still untouched. We are hoping to complete these next Monday and Tuesday from 5 to 9 PM. We are also hoping to get a few more donated too. Last year, we actually gave away almost one hundred bikes. We will be giving them away on a first come first serve basis. When and if we run out of bicycles, the late comers will be disappointed. So, if any of your Sisters club members can help, Monday and Tuesday are when our need is the greatest for this "Holiday Bikes" program. We have found that it is hard to share our love of cycling with a child who doesn't have one!
          
Good Riding, from the tandem team and BABs volunteers of,
Pat & Mary Margaret Flinn, who say,
"A good ride with friends like you is a better ride!"
 

BAB Volunteers Visit New MSU Bikes Service Center

On Oct. 13, 2006 Pat Flinn, Omawaili Ola and Peter McManus visited the new MSU Bikes Service Center located in the center of the MSU campus. Afterwards they cycled downtown on some recycled MSU bikes via the Lansing River Trail to visit the offices of the League of Mich. Bicyclists and the Mich. Greenways and Trails Alliance.

 

 

Winter 2006-2007 Newsletter

Click here for the 2006 winter newsletter (11/9/06).

Holiday Bikes 2005

Tour de Detroit 2005


Over 200 people participated in the 4th annual and the largest to date. Photos by Tom Gromak, ride participant.

One rider's comments:
"..it was fantasic; it was 35 miles through historic neighborhoods and the day was perfect for it. We stopped at the community gardens and soup kitchen of the Fransicans near Mt. Elloitt Cemetary and then at Back Alley Bikes. At both we got a little tour, and info on the city projects! Honest Johns supplied a bus to follow us in case someone could not make it and the fine men of the Detroit Police gave us full escort through the city on Harleys!! it was very well planned and efficent!"
Danielle Kaltz


Read a full article/ report about the tour here....

Back Alley Bikes Fund Raiser Events, July 29-30, 2005

Join two fund raisers for a worthwhile cycling program, Back Alley Bikes, that the MSU Bike Project endorses. The program is Detroit's only free bicycle repair and recycling shop. It is located in the part of the city where the need for such a program is the greatest, the Cass corridor.


The movie on Friday night will be in the shop itself. The entrance is actually about a hundred feet West and a hundred feet North of the intersection of Cass and Martin Luther King Blvd. Just as our name indicates, we are located on the second floor, off of the alley!


The Bike Art Auction on Saturday night is in the Detroit Summer Youth Space on the first floor. We will hope to see you at one or both events.

On Friday, July 29th, join us at the shop for a screening of The Triplets of Belleville.
This beautifully animated adventure will be enjoyed by folks of all ages. Snacks will be served at 7:00pm, and the movie will start at 8:00. This event is free of charge.

On Saturday, July 30th is our biggest fundraising event of the year:


The Back Alley Bikes Fourth Annual Bike Art Auction (2005)

When: 7:00pm to 11:00pm
Where: Detroit Summer Youth Space, 3535 Cass Ave. (NW corner of Cass and MLK) (click for Google map)
Cost: $5 per person
What? There will be complimentary food and drinks, as well as live music and lots of fun! A varied collection of artwork made from/for/about bikes will be sold by means of silent auction. The funds raised from the Bike Art Auction allow us to purchase the supplies that the shop could not function without.

Please encourage your friends and family to attend this very special
event. We rely on the support of caring folks like you to keep our shop free for our community.

Questions? Contact Pat Flinn
Learn more about Back Alley Bikes from this Detroit Free Press article.


Pat Flinn, volunteer for Back Alley Bikes of Detroit, stopped for a tour of the Project workshop w/ Tim Potter after the 2005 MSU Farm Daze Tour (May, 2005); pictured with his tandem after the Farm Daze Tour. Photo by wife Maggie Flinn who rode the Tour as stoker.