From newbies to experienced cyclists, everyone is welcome at Bike Plant on Tompkins Avenue.
In front of a bantam , unassuming motorcycle workshop on Tompkins Avenue inBed Stuy , cyclists sit on a rickety wooden bench waiting to pump their tires . A walk through the front door divulge champagne auto-mechanic milling about , tinkering with tools and restore tires to a soundtrack of local dj and pop icon like Olivia Rodrigo and Dua Lipa . Amongst the music and chattering , a corded landline in the shape of luscious lips sits on the master desk , ringing on and off . Past the racks of bike awaiting repairs , Robin Graven - Milne performs melodic phrase ups , wearing a hoodie with smart blue letters record " Bike Plant , " the name of their nearly three - class - oldbike fixture workshop .
Bikeshave always been a prominent part of Graven - Milne ’s biography , long before the Canada - native opened the engaged Brooklyn shopfront . For Graven - Milne , who uses they / them pronoun , wheel always represent pure joy , adventure , and eventually , dismission .
“ My earliest bike memory is cod in a small trailer with my comrade behind my dad ’s bike bouncing around like , ‘ Wow , this is so fun ! ’ , ” say Graven - Milne . Then , as an avid biker through their adolescent years before study to force back , “ [ motorcycle ] made me realize I had a lot more office in my life than bon ton first led me to conceive — being raised as a fille and living in this culture of not getting your hands on things . ”
Meet the mechanics: (from left to right) Rae, Robin, Sean, and bahar.|Photo by Jonah Rosenberg for Thrillist
Despite this longtime love for bikes , Graven - Milne never intended to open another bicycle shop . preceding experience working at one in Canada , as well as co - owning Haven Cycles in Bushwick , made the thought of re - enter the market seem daunting . When the pandemic saw a huge cycling boom , that wavering evaporate .
“ I could see that there was a need for bike repair in the vicinity that was high quality and low-cost , ” says Graven - Milne , who opened the shop in April of 2021 . “ It was more like something that I sawneededto be done , from my perspective , and was also the only job that I really knew how to do . So I was just like , ‘ Goddamn it , I reckon I have to just do it again . ’ ”
While you ’re potential to catch wheeler in Lycra comparing mileage , a fraction of the workshop ’s customers are those just beginning to ship on theircycling journeying . From Citi Bikers to newbies who bought a cheap wheel off of Craigslist , Bike Plant welcome everyone .
You can catch owner Robin Graven-Milne working on tune-ups in the back of Bike Plant.|Photo by Jonah Rosenberg for Thrillist
“ Bike shops lend themselves easily to being a locus in a community of interests by the nature of people take to wait at them often , ” Graven - Milne enunciate . “ You might be hang around for a few proceedings , either to get your flat fixed or to get a service intake , so the great unwashed by nature end up natter . ”
It ’s not coincidental that Bike Plant has foster such a close - crumple , warm environment . In a globe fueled by neutral pot , its favorable ( and fairly paid ) mechanics and investment in the community is a welcome respite .
In addition , Bike Plant put up intimate bike repair grade on a skid damage scale , where customers can get a line various skills , like how to fix stuck pasture brake tablet , bland tires , and loose chains . Every Saturday , after hour , anyone can drop by for the shop’sAsk - A - Mechanic sessionand get tips on any bicycle - have-to doe with projects . Money lift from these sessions and also contribution from community members goes towardBike Plant ’s repair fund , which help subsidise bicycle fix for customers who ca n’t afford them . In just a year , they raised $ 10,000 .
“ Seeing how well [ the repair stock ] has bring so far has changed my understanding of what groups of the great unwashed are able to fulfill in their communities . And I remember that that ’s passably much all we have at this point , ” Graven - Milne says . “ It ’s gracious to have a little bit of Bob Hope , even if it ’s just in this small domain of one bike shop . ”
