Bikes for Batavia

09/16/2025

Hello Batavia and surrounding area riders! Please remember that when you are on the road you have rights AND responsibilities. Also remember that the objects you share the road with (small cars, full-sized cars, pickup trucks, vans, SUVs, busses, and bigger vehicles) are ALL much bigger than you.

This heightens the importance of YOU being aware and following rules of the road like STOP signs. We see a lot of road users NOT following the rules (vehicles and bikes), so let's all do better.

Stay safe and happy riding.

Cyclists are Vulnerable Road Users.

While bicycles are considered vehicles under Illinois law, a bicycle is far different from other vehicles on the road. The average weight of a bicycle ranges from 20-30lbs, but the average weight of a car is around 4,000lbs! Also, the driver of a bicycle sits on top of their vehicle while most other vehicles safely enclose their drivers inside. This puts bicycle riders in a much more vulnerable position compared to other road users. When looking at distance traveled by road user type, cyclists have been shown to have fatality rates 3-10.2 times higher than motorists.(1)

In 2019, there were 846 cyclists killed and 49,000 injured across the US.(2) These rates have continued to rise with an 8% increase in cyclist fatalities from 2021 to 2022.(3) Many of these deaths could have been prevented through a combination of education and awareness.

1. Bluejay, M. Bicycle Safety Almanac. https://bicycleuniverse.com/bicycle-safety-almanac/
2. National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2020, December). Overview of motor vehicle crashes in 2019. (Traffic Safety Facts Research Note. Report No. DOT HS 813 060). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
3. National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2023, January 9) NHTSA Estimates for First Nine Months of 2022 Suggest Roadway Fatalities Beginning to Level Off After Two Years of Dramatic Increases. https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/nhtsa-estimates-traffic-deaths-2022-third-quarter

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05/28/2025

We love to see "empty" spots in our work space, it means people are on bikes! This empty spot held 30 bikes that went to Women Cheat Codes in Rockford, IL - they even brought us 15 bikes from their community to repair and return to them. Happy riding Rockford!

05/06/2025

UPDATE: These bikes have all been repaired! A "special guest" local bike repair expert took some home and dropped them off when ready to roll, while others were fixed in the shop.

There are always opportunities to help if you are interested. Check out the "after" shot from the same part of the shop, then see the pile of bikes that a group from Rockford will be picking up soon for their bike give-away event!

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Hello Batavia and surroundings - if you want to fix some bikes TONIGHT (May 6), this pile of 16 kids bikes was dropped off by a local group. It seems they need some cleaning, l**e, tires filled, and general tune-up. They are small and single speed so they shouldn't need too much.

If you want to join us at our shop tonight, please send me a message. Doors open at 8:30pm!

12/16/2024

Before and After - today Rockford Catholic Charities picked up 20 - TWENTY - bikes for kids and adults that they serve. Happy Riding, Rockford!

11/02/2024

2024 has been another great year at Bikes for Batavia, just about 100 bikes went out to our friends and neighbors in need of transportation and recreation - and we are not done yet, still working on a few more requests! Many thanks to donors of bikes, space, discounted parts, and support!

As we approach the holiday season, we are receiving requests for NEW bikes to surprise youngsters with - for some it may be their first bike ever, others are in need of a sized-up ride. The "catch" is that they need to be new. In the past we received donations from local retailers of bikes that could not be sold due to some issue (bent rim, flat tire, missing/broken part) - we were able to repair the "issue" and get them donated.

If you are interested in sending new youth bikes our way, or know someone that has connections to get us those new, slightly damaged, bikes - we would be very grateful if you could send them our way so we can pass the bikes along. Alternatively, if you want to get a kid a new bike for an upcoming holiday, I can put you in touch with our local partners (Batavia United Way, Mutual Ground, etc.) so you can fill the needs in a more direct way.

As always, we are grateful to all of our community partners, but especially Batavia United Methodist Church for the space they let us use to do our work.

Finally, we have a pretty full shop of bikes so will need to be "picky" about non-new bikes you may want to donate - we simply run out of space to store them, but do appreciate your kindness.

06/26/2024

🚴‍♀️ Meet MAX 15, our friendly SPOKESperson! He'd like to remind preserve users to share the trail and follow all rules and regulations. Let's make recreation safe, enjoyable and welcoming for all. 🚴‍♂️

*𝐁𝐢𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬*

❗️KEEP IT CLASSY
Class E-1 & E-2 bikes are OK ✅
Class E-3 bikes are prohibited 🚫

❗️NO NEED FOR SPEED
All bikes must follow the speed limit - 15 mph (think of MAX 15)🐢

❗️BE AWARE AND TAKE CARE
Stay safe and follow all traffic laws, rules and regulations

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND:
🐕 𝐃𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟏𝟎 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟𝐟-𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬. This ensures the safety of your pet, preserve users and staff. Help us protect our natural areas by restricting your pet's access to valuable plant and animal communities.

For more information, read our General Use Ordinance here: https://kaneforest.com/upload/UseOrdinance.pdf.

06/07/2024

BIG news out of Bikes for Batavia today - our 700th donation since May 2020 rolled out of the shop (along with a few more)!

We have had the generous support of the greater Batavia-land community to help many people roll around town for all sorts of reasons! Local bikes shops (Pedal & Spoke Ltd., Prairie Path Cycles), community members donating bikes and locks (we need locks!), other community groups, community friends fixing bikes in the shop, and of course the Batavia United Methodist Church for the space to work on all of these bikes!

We look forward to continuing our mission to help people get around town by fixing up "old" bikes! BUT this is a not a request for more bikes, we currently only really need adult bikes.

05/23/2024

Bikes for Batavia is looking to help a family find a small boys bike, 12" or 14" wheels, with training wheels. We can make any necessary repairs and coordinate delivery.

Thank you!

09/09/2023

We have been asked to help find adult trikes for two different individuals. While we know this is a big ask, your donation would go a long way towards helping them with their mobility. We do have a small budget and are able to pay something. Photo is just an example, can have gears or not. Repairs can be made if necessary. Thank you!

06/29/2023

Hello Batavia and Beyond! We love the support we get from the community in the form of used bikes. Please be sure to contact us before dropping them off so we can let you know if they will be useful for our riders. Thank you!

06/15/2023

To the person stealing bikes near the old Aquaviva in downtown Batavia:

The yellow and gray Trek mountain bike was given to a young immigrant and it was their favorite color. They had dropped it off 'after hours' for repairs.

Please do the right thing and put it back where you found it, you will make her day once again. We don't ask questions, we just fix bikes, so again, please do the right thing.

05/17/2023

During Fall 2022 a faculty member at Mades Johnstone Center partnered with Bikes for Batavia to teach tool and bike repair skills to middle school students. The students built some new in box bikes and learned how to repair old bikes so they are in suitable condition to be donated to community members to ride. We learned some life lessons and had some fun along the way too. We look forward to adding so many more years to the plaque - thank you for working with us!