‘Bike Swap’ rolls into Rosewood Center

Take a look, and learn more about this outer East Portland ‘incubator business’ the event supports at this Centennial neighborhood public space …

Three bike buddies – Matthew Wilkins, Craig Harrison, and Chris Sanagustin –say they’ve come to the East Portland Bike Swap to sell excess parts.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Billed as “Oregon’s biggest bike parts garage sale”, the East Portland Bike Swap came to the Rosewood Community Center in outer East Portland on April 16. Vendors, mostly bicycle enthusiasts, brought new and used bikes, parts, and accessories of all types and sizes.

“We had many people pay extra for ‘early bird entry’ today,” said Rosewood Bikes Director Matt Martin.

Rosewood Bikes Director Matt Martin spends a moment with Bike Swap organizer Dan Sloan of Everybody’s Bike Rentals and Tours.

“All of the money raised from the vendor table rentals today goes to help support Rosewood Bikes,” Martin told East Portland News. “We use these funds to buy all the tubes, tires, and parts to fix people’s bikes. And then, too, the educational and safety programs that we run cost money, because we have to buy equipment, locks, helmets, and things like that.”

Martin recalled how Rosewood Bikes started as an “incubator business” within the Rosewood Initiative Community Center last March.

>> Read about the startup of Rosewood Bikes: CLICK HERE.

Having lots of parts to sell is Patrick Loftus, from the Mississippi area of North Portland.

Supporting the effort by renting a table are Alissa Lamb and Ryan Smith of City Bikes.

“Over the last year and a half, things have been going really well,” Martin said. “People have started coming in more, now the weather is turning nice. We have lots of bicycles, and parts that have been donated to Rosewood through the generosity of the community. We’re getting ready to get them all back out to people here and in the Rosewood area.”

Currently they have “open shop hours” twice a week – on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

“People can come in with their bike, if they need repair,” explained Martin. “We do the labor for free, but we ask if they can help us cover the expenses by paying for the parts.”

The Rosewood Community Center is stocked with both new and used bicycles from which to choose during the Bike Swap meet.

They’re gearing up to offer more and different kinds of programs, Martin revealed. “One of them is where people can put in volunteer hours – with Rosewood Bikes, the Rosewood Initiative, or elsewhere through social service organizations with whom we will partner – and then get a bike, in exchange for their volunteer labor.”

Learn more about these programs by visiting their official website: CLICK HERE.

And, stay in touch with the Rosewood Initiative at their official website: CLICK HERE.

>> On our Front Page: Sean Linne hopes to sell his Spin bike wheels, made of thermoplastic.

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