Through the glass windows of Recycle-a-Bicycle are rows of used tires and boxes of spare screws and bolts. You can smell the rubber all around. To the right bicycles are for sale. They do not sparkle or shine like new—that’s because these bikes are built from recycled parts. A brown-haired girl in a pink skirt blows up the tires on her rusty teal ten-speed.
From behind a bike stand, a slender short haired bike mechanic appears and sets down her tools. April Frederick, bicycle mechanic, walks up to the customer and offers a helping hand to inflate the flat tire. The brown-haired girl thanks her, then rolls the bike out the door. There are many reasons that girl with the flat tire may have ended up at the Recycle-a-Bicycle (RAB) store that day. While it may be the only bike store in the neighborhood, it is also welcoming shop for women.
After fifteen years of promoting recycling, RAB has also become a key to promoting female leadership in the bicycle culture. Whether founder Karen Overton planned it this way or not, the organization has become a place for women to train and fit into a male dominated career.
Overton, who now works as the Catalyst Coordinator at the New York City Department of Parks, founded the RAB in 1994 with a grant from Transportation Alternatives—the non-profit organization that advocates for walking, cycling, and using public transit in the city. RAB began as an educational resource for students in local schools to learn how to repair their own bikes. Approximately 25 girls and boys intern each year, and some are offered a job after at one of the stores. RAB members opened the first shop in the East Village in 1994. Two years ago, a second shop opened in the DUMBO area under the Brooklyn Overpass on Pearl Street. These shops repair bikes as well as sell bikes made out of recycled parts. These reused materials produce less waste because there is less shipping from foreign countries as well as less packaging that goes along with a new bike.
The mission of this organization began as a way to save money as well as the environment, while teaching young adults how to repair and maintain bicycles. Overton she created a place for learning and sustainable living that would remain a part of the city long after her reign. Many other females have followed in her footsteps to keep the mission alive.
The current RAB director Pasqualina Azzarello, a friendly petite brown haired woman, works at the DUMBO location. “We have more women mechanics than men now and that’s a rare occurrence,” Azzarello says as she heads back to her desk to file more paperwork. Between the two shops, there are six women and five men mechanics.
Male Majority in Mechanics
In a city with 185,000 cyclists, the New York Department of Transportation announced there was a 26% increase in bicycle commuters since 2008. According to a Rutgers University study researched by Professor John Pulcher, only 25% of these cyclists are women. Even with increased interest in biking, women are a minority among these numbers. But at RAB, the males take a backseat and are no longer the majority.
Blonde-haired Chris Brunson, Head mechanic at the DUMBO shop, with rolled up gray pants and grease all over his hands is the only male in the room today. He began working at RAB two and a half years ago. Originally from Washington, he learned how to fix bikes at a community based shop. RAB is his first experience working in a predominantly female environment.
“Typically bike shops in general have too much of a male presence, which means at times there is a macho attitude that can dominate,” he says as he looks around the shop. “Working with [women] is helpful, because I feel there is good communication.”
Along side Brunson, is Susan Lindell, the shop manager. Throughout the day, the two joke and laugh, without any sign of disagreement. Lindell doesn’t find it difficult to be an expert in this type of work, even if she has had a few instances where men don’t trust her opinion. Every now and then, a male will come into the shop and ask, “Where’s Chris?” and insist he works on the bike instead. Apparently, a few customers believe a woman cannot repair as well as a man. “Certain people won’t trust a woman telling them what they need to repair,” Brunson says. In most cases, he says older people feel that way, while younger customers are open to the fact that there are women mechanics.
For Lindell, she feels people in this part of New York are open minded, especially those who bike. With her hair pulled back into a bun and tucked under a black baseball cap, she laughs about an instance where a young child mistook her for a boy and said, “Daddy he’s fixing your bike.”
For Lindell, the stereotype does not affect her because she knows she is just as well as educated as a man. “Honestly they shouldn’t because plenty of men don’t know what they’re doing either,” she says. She insists that no matter who you are, you can always learn more about how to repair bikes. Everyday she learns something new from her co-workers because everyone has a different background to share.
Comfort with Co-Workers and Customers
Mechanic Frederick finds herself more comfortable with other women there. “I always like to see a woman in this job [because] often I feel I can relate to them better,” she says putting away some spare parts. With women employees, it attracts more female interns and customers. This year, the interns are nearly all girls. With women mentors, this helps create a comfortable learning environment for the teen girls.
“Men are more dominant in situations that are stereotypically male occupations so, by removing the men, women get a chance to try everything,” Frederick says. In California, she volunteered at a shop with all men. With a disgusted look, she tells how they never let her lift heavy boxes and bikes. Instead they designated her with cleaning. She has been at RAB for the last year and a half and noticed a change in the workplace. Throughout any given day, she is seen lifting bikes off racks. She does this herself because she is the one who replaces the chain or brakes. She is willing to help anyone who walks through the door.
The young brunette girl, Heather Gray, leaves RAB with air in her tires. She lives in the neighborhood and returns for repairs when she needs them. “This shop has always been friendly towards me,” Gray says. “The female mechanics surprised me from my first visit, but now it’s interesting to see this diversity you don’t see at other shops I have been to.”
The mechanics at RAB seem to love the combination of the organization’s mission and its people. With the rise of females in the workplace, there is also a strong emphasis on living more environmentally friendly. With this growing trend across the nation, there has been increased interest in the shop.
Teaching Teens the Techniques
The shop is an educational as well as an environmental resource for anyone aspiring to be a bicycle mechanic, especially a young female. Frederick recalls a high school teacher who attended a class at RAB, who asked for the female mechanics to teach the same class to her female high school students. “Having women for half of the mechanics certainly helps promote women in this role,” Frederick says. “We are role models for young females without intending to be.”
In the back of the shop, two teenage girls put a bicycle on a stand to attach a missing tire. This is one of the repairs the interns learn in the program under the supervision of the mechanics. Lindell, learned the basic repair skills by volunteering with RAB, when founder Overton was still at the organization. Lindell’s positive experiences led her to acquire a position as a full-time mechanic. Now, she is the shop manager and a guide for young adults.
“It’s a sense of self sufficiency to be able to fix a bike yourself,” she says. She heads to the sink to wash the grease off her hands. Just as Brunson’s hands were, hers are covered in oil from a long day of work.
Possibly a sidebar:
Women on a Roll:
How Time’s Up Bike Co-Op Taught Me to Fix My Ride
A bicycle mechanic slides the hex wrench back into her jeans pocket and pushes the kickstand on her bike. The mechanic, Susan Lindell, smiles widely at the females in the tiny, cold basement of ABC No Rio, an art and activism center on the Lower East Side. Her curly brown hair is pulled back into a bun and topped with a blue cap. Her hands are covered in grease from demonstrating how to oil a bike chain just moments before. She wipes the grease on her gray Adidas sweatshirt.
Then she starts pointing out every part of the bicycle, so even a novice can learn the terms. Everyone knows the handlebars, but not everyone may know where to find the front derailleur. She points to one last piece. “This is the water bottle cage, but I heard someone call it a drink holder once,” she says smiling. “I told them they spend too much time in a car.”
No one in the room arrived that chilly, autumn evening by car. A true bicyclist rides in any weather and at any time. Just moments before, I rolled my bike down Rivington Street, bundled up from head to toe. While the basement was cold and dark, it was filled with life. Bikes and spare tools are spread all around. The other thing that caught my eye was the six women huddled together. On Monday nights, the bike co-op Time’s Up has an instructional class strictly for females, taught by bike mechanic Lindell.
Three years ago, she started the class as a place for females to learn in an environment without men, which often makes them feel more relaxed. “There are a lot of women who feel intimidated with men there, like they’re treated differently,” she says. “This is the place they feel comfortable to ask what they want.”
Aspiring bike mechanics, workers, and riders come together every Monday evening to watch Lindell work on her own bike. These women take these lessons back to their own bikes or better yet- their own bike shops, organizations, and co-ops—a non-profit member driven workshop that allows free access to tools and services. It’s what women like Lindell herself did before she became an instructor. While some students attend the class to help others, I was there for my own benefit.
As a female cyclist, you see more men are riding through the streets of New York than women. Physical activities are male dominated or at least presumed to be. That’s why I was sitting there listening to Lindell tell me how to grease a bike chain and how often you should. After biking for three years in the city, I never even aired up a tire on my own. Instead I would take my bike to Manhattan Velo on 17th Street, where the male mechanics would hover around me to be sure I was properly taken care of. It wasn’t until recently I thought to learn the basics of bicycle repair. This way I would not have to rely on my father when I was home, my boyfriend here at school, or the helpful mechanics at Manhattan Velo. It would also save anywhere from ten to twenty dollars for simple repairs.
Greasing the Chain
Lindell starts her first class with what she refers to as one of the easiest bike repairs, greasing the chain. All you need is bike oil and two old rags— make sure the oil you use isn’t something like WD-40 because it is a water displacer and used to remove oil and grease. If you ride daily, you should repeat this procedure once a month because a chain can rust easily. As for myself, I never greased a bike chain, and it shows on my four-year-old mountain bike.
Lindell places the bike on a bike stand, which are generally only found in bike shops, but are useful for repairs. On the stand, the bike is upside down, which makes it easier to move the chain. With the first rag, she moves the pedals forward to clean off any excess dirt on the chain. Then she cycles the pedals again slowly backwards this time, dripping a small drop of oil on each roller of the chain (each little gap). Do this one time around and make sure too much oil isn’t in the chain. Once this is finished, she used the clean rag to pedal forward— wiping the chain, to remove the extra oil. This completes the process and takes only ten to fifteen minutes.
For a beginner like myself, trying this on my own bicycle left more of a mess on the floor than on the chain. Grease covered the newspaper I laid out, which was not the toughest clean up since it was disposable. It was a simple procedure though, with great results. The bike operates more smoothly now and is also less noisy than before. 
Patching a Tire
When I was a child, a hole in my red bicycle’s tire was the biggest obstacle I had to face. Riding down bumpy hills and roads with potholes, there was always something that damaged the inner tube. One thing I learned was to never start by replacing the entire thing because a simple patch can fix everything. For this task, you need a tire lever, a bike pump, and a patch kit.
First Lindell takes off the tire by releasing the brakes, then she uses an adjustable wrench to loosen the nuts, and pull the wheel from the bike. Using tire irons, you insert the scooped end under the tire to pry it over the rim. Once it loosens up, you can loosen the rest from your hand. Pull the inner tube out and check around the rim for any glass or particles that make have caused the hole.
Lindell pulls the inner-tube out of her black Surly bicycle and deliberately pokes a hole in the rubber with an earring to use as an example. She lifts the tire to her ear to feel the air released from the wound. Listening is an important part of the process. Once you find the spot, mark it with the adhesive in the kit. This creates a vulcanizing solution around the patch, which is what makes the patch stick. Deflate your tire, then once the solution dries, place the patch on. Using tire levels, you need to put the inner tube back into the rim.
It takes a few minutes, then you are faced with the tough part. Lindell advises everyone that putting most tires back on will not be easy. “Prepare yourself mentally,” she says with a laugh.
On my own, it was frustrating trying to reattach the tire with the wrench. Yet when a bicycle has a flat tire, it must be repaired or it will cause permanent damage. You may need a whole new tire. Between the cobble stones and glass in the streets, flat tires may be an issue for cyclists. With that in mind, this is an important repair lesson.
Lindell’s Monday class prepared me for my own bicycle troubles, which I never thought I could solve on my own. There will be fewer visits to Manhattan Velo, until I decide to make a purchase for a basket or another light. Even then, I may refuse help from the staff and attach them myself.
Learning from the Lessons
After the two-hour class ended, the women applauded Lindell’s lesson and raised their hands to ask questions. Smiles spread across their faces as they discussed the mechanics with one another. One student, Emily Sullivan, volunteers at a bicycle co-op at her college, Princeton University and this is her first class at Time’s Up. “I definitely feel stereotyped as a woman, where people will come in and ask for [a man],” she says as she puts her helmet on. “It’s nice to be able to learn in an environment like this.”
She tells me she learned to fix bikes to ride long distances. She trekked 1500 miles from Seattle to Los Angeles on her bicycle. Women in this class surprised me with their ambitious attitudes. Learning to make repairs myself was my first hurdle. With a little more education, I may be able to take my own journey.
The women slowly leave the class, and most will return for the next lesson. Every Monday in the month is something different. Break, cable, gear, and spoke repairs are taught by Lindell in the other weeks. I grew comfortable in this environment, just as she promised.
I grab my purple mountain bike and head back uptown, feeling a sense of accomplishment. Even though men always offer to help me fix or lift my bike, I no longer need the assistance. All I need now is my own hex wrench and tire iron.
Journeys Through the City 