Boston’s Bikes Not Bombs
An Early Leader of the Non-profit Bike Shop World
Photography: Calcuttawala & Lanzel
An unassuming brick-red building, tucked away in the back of a dirt lot in Jamaica Plain, sits outside Boston’s city core. The humble structure houses the Bikes Not Bombs shop, which collects, refurbishes, and distributes used bicycles. Bikes Not Bombs stands on its own as one of the best full-service shops in the city, offering great mechanics, good deals, and a very amiable atmosphere.
But this is more than just a bike shop; it’s part of a much larger non-profit organization whose core mission statement promotes bikes and bike-technologies as “concrete alternatives to the militarism, over-consumption and inequality that breed war and environmental destruction” locally and internationally.
Photograph by Calcuttawala & Lanzel
Walking through the dirt lot, you’ll notice a big jumble of old bikes locked up to a steel fence, waiting to be fixed up and shipped out. Inside, racks of revitalized bikes line the cosy quarters while helmets, locks, and other parts fill the remaining space. The diverse, friendly, and never
pretentious staff welcomes everyone; young and old, rookies and veterans. You’ll find plenty of used bikes at Bikes Not Bombs but you won’t find a sales push – I practically had to pry my single-speed Shogun conversion from them!
Inspired by Food Not Bombs, the volunteer movement that serves free vegetarian food to anyone and everyone, and motivated by a desire to counter the often violent US presence in Central America, Bikes Not Bombs ships revamped used bicycles from their nearby central hub to Nicaragua. This program began in 1984, and as the group received positive feedback, the Bikes Not Bombs concept expanded to El Salvador and the Caribbean. Its international success encouraged Bikes Not Bombs to do similar work closer to home in Boston. Today, they sell quality bikes at their Boston location and also give credits to volunteers as part of their Earn-A-Bike program.
Photograph by Calcuttawala & Lanzel
The combination of donations and earnings allows volunteers and employees to ship 3,500 used bicycles annually to people in Ghana, Guatemala, and South Africa, along with the bike-filled containers that are re-used as storefronts upon arriving at their destination. Bike mechanics also travel to these locations to teach locals valuable skills to further their own cycling independence. Via classes and volunteer opportunities, Bikes Not Bombs teaches these same skills to local youths and adults.
We all love riding our bikes, but Bikes Not Bombs goes beyond transportation and teams up with other non-profits and international government agencies to create bike appliances. Using old bikes and parts, they create human-powered cycle machines that power wells, generators, soap blenders and other devices via good old fashioned pedalling power.
Bikes Not Bombs is home to a community that extraordinarily cares about their bicycles and even more about society and the world at large. They are an epic example of how removing the profit incentive can actually improve a store. In a city littered with bike shops, Bikes not Bombs truly stands out as a role model for other shops, bicyclists, citizens and really, for the whole city.
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