FAQ

>WHAT IS THIS PLACE/HOW DOES IT WORK?

This is a bicycle shop.  We sell new and refurbished bicycles, new and used parts and accessories, and we are a full service, professional repair shop.  We also answer questions of all kinds.  Everyone is welcome here, no matter what kind of bike they ride, or if they don’t ride a bike at all but are interested in learning.

We love bikes, and we can help you find one that works for you.  We focus mostly on commuter/daily rider bikes, as well as adventure/touring bikes, bar bikes, grocery getters, Sunday cruisers, vintage show-stoppers, attention-getters, road bikes, and mountain bikes.  We don’t have any “beaters” or “cheap” bikes.

For new bikes, we are an authorized dealer of  Fuji, SE, Breezer, Pure, Surly, All-City, Cinelli, and Fairdale bikes. We love these brands and are proud to carry them.   Stop in, have a chat with one of us, and we’ll help you choose the perfect ride.

Where it gets cool is our “used” bikes.  

This is where our passion comes in.  We aren’t aiming to be the cheapest in town. We are aiming to create and sell reliable, high-performance machines that will get you where you want to go. Every bike we sell gets a full tune up. Most of the bikes we sell get taken down to a bare frame and rebuilt as we dream them.  We get really nerdy about this.  As riders and mechanics, we have definitely developed a style of bikes that are perfect for Richmond’s varied terrains, both for daily riding and beyond.  We love building these bikes, and we love seeing them around town, or “out in the wild.” 

We stand behind our creations.  
All of our fully rebuilt bikes come with free adjustments for 6 months.

>DO YOU SELL USED BIKES? NEW BIKES? USED PARTS? NEW PARTS?

YES. ALL OF IT.

New Parts and Accessories: We carry Shimano, Sram, KMC, Ortlieb, Wolf Tooth, Paul Components, Phil Wood, Bern, Wald, Osprey, Surly, Panaracer, Continental, and basically every other brand under the sun. If we don’t have it in stock we can order it for you at a competitive price and usually have it in your hand in one business day.

Used Parts: We have been salvaging, collecting, rescuing, and carefully curating useful used bicycle parts for 15 years.  It’s part of what makes us ReCycles.  Up front and in our glass cases, you’ll see a selection of the shinier and more desirable vintage parts we have at the moment.  Campagnolo cable guides?  Check.  Mavic cantilever brakes?  check.  Stronglight Track Crankset? Yep.  Complete Shimano 600 tricolor group?  Easy.  But if you’re looking for an everyday part or  if you don’t see what you’re looking for, just ask.  We Definitely have a bin of the part you’re looking for, and we’d love to bring it out for you.  Front derailleurs? sure. Center-pull brakes? Yep.  Salsa stems?  Look in the case, dude.  Vintage track frames? Yes, definitely, but hang on while we pull them down for you.  While we keep the fancy vintage parts on display, please be aware that the regular, run-of-the-mill, serviceable used parts that we have saved over the years are what keep daily riders riding.  It’s amazing what usually will get thrown away.  We can salvage parts off of a bike with a broken frame  that will keep other bikes rolling for years to come, at a fraction of the cost to the rider. We will always try to utilize reused parts in repairs in order to keep costs down for you.  

If you are looking for a used part, let us know! We have all the used parts, big and small, collected behind the counter.  We will bring you the parts and guide you in the right direction.  We love talking about projects and will discuss your home build with you, or select the parts here for a build and repair that you hire us to do.  

We aren’t a junk shop or a thrift store.  If you’re looking to buy stuff to resell on EBAY, look elsewhere.  But we do have 15 years worth of carefully curated salvage bicycle parts for your perusal.  Please ask!!!!

>Y’ALL BUY BIKES???

Maybe. If you have a bike that you don’t need or want anymore, send us a picture or two in the body of an email and we will take a look.  Please tell us where you purchased your bike, and when. If you don’t hear from us, it means we can’t buy your bike. If it’s a serviceable bicycle that we can rebuild or use for parts, we’ll reply and make you an offer. We don’t buy kid’s bikes. Make sure you bring your current, valid government ID or driver’s license!

We may be able to offer trade-in credit, depending on the condition of the bike. 

Even better, if you’ve got a garage, basement, or barn full of bikes and bike parts, we’d like to see all of it, and we’ll come to you! Just give us a call and we will set up an appointment. 

If you don’t hear from us, it means we can’t buy your bike. If we can’t buy your bike or pile of bike parts, we can accept it as a donation.  This will keep your bike out of the landfill.  We can’t give you a tax receipt as we are not a non-profit organization, just a small, community oriented local bike shop.  BUT we will either donate it to a person who needs a bicycle to get to work, or an organization which does the same, or use part or all of it to add to our catalog of used parts, which helps keep our repair charges down for people in the community who rely on our low-cost services to keep them rolling.  If parts and pieces of your bike(s) aren’t usable by anyone, we will make sure that the materials are recycled in a responsible manner.

DON’T TRY TO SELL US A STOLEN BIKE. 
WE WILL KNOW.  
WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A LONG TIME
AND WE WILL KNOW.

>HOW ABOUT TRADE INS?

We also do trade-ins!  Got a bike or bikes that you just don’t ride anymore, or looking to trade up and ride more or in a different way? Send us an email with some pictures. Let’s figure out what you need, and how to get you on the bicycle you want.

Every bike that we sell gets a full tune up.  Most get new tires, tubes, grips, chain, freewheel, all cables, and new sealed bearing bottom bracket, as well as overhauling the headset and hubs.  For this reason, the price we offer you may seem low.  This is because we spend at least half a day working on each bike, plus we have to figure in the price of the parts listed above and often more, before a bike can meet our standards to be sold at ReCycles. So, you might get more for your bike on Craigslist.  

>DO YOU HAVE ANY PARTS FOR FREE?

No. We put a lot of time and love into refurbishing all the used parts we acquire and we are happy to sell them to you for a fair price.

>IS THIS PLACE STILL THE SAME AS IT USED TO BE?

YES! In many ways ReCycles is the same as ever! We aim to be welcoming to EVERYONE from all walks of life and streamline the bike repair process. Our staff may be different then the last time you came by a few years ago, but we are friendly and excited to help you!