Accessible Local Bike Shops: The Fourth Emergency Service!
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
W
heels for Wellbeing is a Disabled people’s cycling organisation who campaign for equal access to cycling for Disabled people within an ethos of mobility justice.
WfW welcomes Local Bike Shop Day as an opportunity to celebrate local bike shops that contribute to the mobility and wellbeing of Disabled people and Disabled cyclists, and to ask more local bike shops if they are accessible.
For Disabled people, an accessible local bike shop can be like a fourth emergency service – they fix wheelchair punctures, change bearings and work on cycles such as recumbents and handcycles that have often been purchased from specialist suppliers in other parts of the country or overseas. A dedicated local bike shop can usually find a solution to a problem and get the wheels back in motion again – without which many Disabled people would be completely immobilised.
A significant barrier to cycling for Disabled people is difficulty in getting parts, service and maintenance for non-standard cycles, especially at affordable prices. Likewise, lack of accessibility in bike shops can be another barrier for many. Local bike shops have a huge role to play in overcoming these barriers and enabling many more Disabled people to cycle with confidence.
WfW hope that by taking part in the Local Bike Shop Day campaign we will encourage more local bike shops to be aware of Disabled cyclists, non-standard cycles and the range of bike and cycle adaptations.
We want many more local bike shops to be accessible to Disabled cyclists and confident that they can service and repair their cycles. That way Disabled people will be supporting their local economy and local bike shops will be supporting our vision that everyone should be able to cycle!