We’re Growing: The Lee Hill Benefit Bikes Workshop

With your kindness, together we can transform sustainable transportation in Boulder County. Community Cycles’ new Lee Hill Workshop is vital for scaling up our operations and bringing innovative services – like cutting-edge e-bike recycling – to our community. 

Community Cycles has long been dedicated to recycling bicycles and providing refurbished bicycles to low-income individuals and families in Boulder County. However, our current space limitations have constrained our ability to meet the growing demand. 

“Our mechanics and volunteers are some of the most hard-working, dedicated people you’ll find in Boulder. Right now, they don’t have the space to efficiently process the high volume of bicycles we need to refurbish and get them back into the hands of community members who need bikes. The Lee Hill Workshop will mean we can do more of what we do, and do it better.”

– Dax Burgos, Shop Director

The Lee Hill Benefit Bikes Workshop will:

• Expand Benefit Bikes: This space will be the central hub for our “Benefit Bikes” program, where we prepare bicycles for distribution to income-qualifying individuals and families in Boulder County – because everyone in our community deserves access to high-quality bicycles.
• Bolster Repair Space & Sustainability: The Lee Hill Workshop will serve as a nexus where volunteers and staff can efficiently repair and refurbish bicycles – so that every last bit of donated bikes can be reused, repurposed and recycled. 
• Create an E-bike Production Area: There will be a dedicated section for e-bike refurbishment and production – so we can handle the unique requirements of e-bikes and e-bike recycling.
• Expand our reach: The location will serve as an additional drop-off point for bicycle donations, allow us to engage more volunteers in meaningful work, strengthen community bonds, and promote cycling culture – in keeping with our promise to create safer, inclusive, joy-filled bike-friendly streets for all!

FAQs
Q: What about the current Community Cycles space? What’s going to change at the current Spruce Street shop?	A: The current space at 2601 Spruce will remain as it is, apart from moving some of our bicycle refurbishing and recycling offsite.
Q: I love Community Cycles – how will this impact me as a customer, member or volunteer?	A: Most of our work will continue “as is” for members – you can still donate, take workshops, purchase bikes & parts, work at our DIY shop, and engage on advocacy at our current Spruce Street location. If your volunteerism includes working on bikes, you may have the opportunity to do that at Lee Hill!
Q: How big is the new Lee Hill space? What’s the layout?	A: 2300 sq ft. This large warehouse space has 21 foot ceilings, a large roll-up garage door, and a small loft.  The high ceilings are especially helpful for storing bikes above the floor workspace, and essentially double the useable square footage. There is also a small office area and restroom.
Q: “The Why” — Why do you need this?	A: Two main reasons: Our current space is too small for some of the programming we have been doing to get bikes to the growing number of low income community members in need. We also do not have space to properly process E-bikes.
Q: When will the Lee Hill space be open? Will it be open to the general public for donations or workshops or buying bikes?	A: We officially acquire the space on Dec 16, 2024. This will not be a retail shop, so bikes will not be sold here. 2601 Spruce will continue to be the only retail shop. Some volunteers and staff will start to work on bikes here in early 2025. There will likely be bike donation drop off times at the Lee Hill space by spring 2025.
Q: Where exactly is the Lee Hill Workshop?	A: 1501 Lee Hill Boulder CO, near Upslope!
Q: Can I get a job there?	A: Hiring for mechanics at Lee Hill would be the same as hiring for mechanics or any position at our 2601 Spruce shop. When we have open positions, they are listed on our website.
Q: If I donate a bike at Lee Hill, can I get a free drink from your neighbor on Lee Hill?	A: We don’t have that in place right now, but thanks for the idea! As we move in and get to know our neighbors, we’ll ask!

“Huge numbers of ebikes are reaching the end of their lifespans for the first time in human history. We need to be on the cutting edge of this refurbishing and recycling effort, because we can salvage lots of these great bikes for reuse, and we can also keep a lot of environmentally damaging materials out of our landfills. We are so grateful to our community for supporting our work!”

– Sue Prant, Executive Director