Bikes Not Bombs Hub & Bike Shop

Bikes Not Bombs is a Jamaica Plain nonprofit that uses the bicycle as a tool for social change, with a focus on economic mobility for Black and other marginalized people in Boston and the Global South. It reclaims thousands of discarded bikes each year and turns them into programs offering youth skills training, leadership opportunities, jobs and sustainable transportation, tying its work to transportation access, environmental action and social justice.

The organization also runs a full-service retail bike shop and training center that reconditions and sells some of the donated bikes alongside new bikes and parts. Profits from sales and repairs help fund the youth and international programs. Community events round out the calendar, such as the Great Commuter Challenge, a multi-modal scavenger hunt along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor in which teams compete by car, MBTA or bike, with costumes encouraged.

What to Know

• The shop is just off the Southwest Corridor bike path and near the MBTA Orange Line.
• Volunteer opportunities are available, and supporters raise funds through efforts such as a volunteer’s bike ride from Boston to New Orleans.
• Bikes Not Bombs publishes an annual report on its youth leadership and transportation equity work.
• It is a member of both Egleston Square Main Street and JP Centre/South Main Streets.