Our Vision
Lefty Loosey Bike Collective is a community bicycle shop maintaining a space for teaching and learning (about bikes and beyond!), redistribution and repair (mostly bikes), and joy. We are committed to economic justice, anti-racism, & anti-oppression. We believe that bikes are a tool that can be a source of joy, learning, expression, and low-cost mobility. At the same time, access to bikes and their repair is often denied on the basis of class, gender, race, and age.
We are all living through ecological and climate crises created by our society - a society built on enslavement, genocide, and exploitation. In the midst of these crises, we envision a future where all life can thrive. We see bikes as a small part of that future where all life thrives.
Our Story
In Fall 2020, a small group of mechanics, artists, and organizers in Providence came together with the idea of creating a community bicycle workshop run collectively by the people doing the work. We wanted to build a shop where bikes are tools for economic, racial, and environmental justice. And, we wanted to create an organization where people like many of us, who are often left out of mainstream bike and mechanics/hands-on spaces - BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), queer and trans folks, women - belong.
The Collective launched publicly in Spring 2021. During our first season, we redistributed bikes through partnerships with Direct Action for Rights and Equality, Project Weber/Renew, Clínica Esperanza, and others. We held regular repair hours at our shop and in Kennedy Plaza, as well as volunteer nights and classes. We also did a lot of behind-the-scenes work to get the organization up and running as a worker-directed nonprofit. After several moves to several spaces, in January of 2023 we landed in our current home of 50 Sims Ave.
We can’t wait for all that lies ahead!
Get involved!
A worker-run collective:
Lefty Loosey Bike Collective is run democratically by its members. Members have an equal voice and make decisions about how to run the shop together. Each member works in the shop and does behind-the-scenes work. We regularly hold open calls for membership.
Volunteering:
Volunteers are critical to making our shop work! Volunteers help out at open Repair Hours and Volunteer Nights by sorting parts, fixing up bikes, and more.
If you’re interested in membership or volunteering, reach out to us!