The Elyria Bicycle Education Center began in June of 2017 as the dreamchild of a handful of cycling enthusiasts in Elyria, Ohio. For many years Elyria had gone without a bike shop in the city, except for a one-year stint when Mike’s Bike Shop made a brief comeback. We saw how more and more cyclists were showing up all around town and the City of Elyria was making huge efforts to make Elyria more bike-friendly.
Long story short, the right people came together and found a great location and decided to make it happen. We chose to adopt a bike co-op concept for the business model. This means that we accept donated used bicycles and bike-related items at the center. Then we either rehab the bikes or work with folks who need bikes and get the donated items back into service in some way. We offer decent, safe bikes for sale outright or to work towards ownership. We also offer classes on many topics, including mechanics and maintenance and safe cycling skills.
The Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All who work here are volunteers – we have no payroll. As such, we depend entirely on volunteers dedicated to its success and on the generosity of our community. The greater Elyria community is very generous – with its time, with its material goods (bikes) and with its financial resources.