News & Events

  • Bikes of the Now: Lugs, Twins & Bargains Edition

    Lately we’ve been talking a lot about our Pro-Built line of rebuilt bicycles, which our mechanics are justifiably proud of. Each Pro-Built bike is rebuilt from the frame up with all new & especially reliable components, producing a durable commuting machine. Several of these are highlighted in Bikes of the Now, including this week’s newest entry: Read more

  • Bikes, Libraries and Rock n’ Roll (8/Nov/12)

    What do the three things in the title of this post have in common?  Back Alley Bikes!  Let me tell you about them: 1) Bikes Hopefully I don’t have to explain to you how bikes relate to to Back Alley Bikes then you should probably take a longer look around this website.  However, we received Read more

  • Benefit Show next week!

    Hey everyone, So we’ve thrown some really great parties and if you missed them, don’t worry because as long as we are still kicking there will be more.  What exactly am I talking about?  Well, the Benefit Concert on November 9th of course! If you haven’t been to one of our concerts before you want Read more

  • Television interview (1/Nov/12)

    Because… facebook has decided to not show everyone what we post… You came to this website about information on what we do… Internet users love videos and photos… Jason is really vain and likes to see themselves on camera… We are sharing this video of an interview with Jason from Bloomfield public access television.  Jason Read more

  • Upcoming Fun (30/Oct/12)

    Hey Everyone, So I’m sure you are watching the approach of the end of the year.  You may be watching it on your 2012 Hub of Detroit calendar that we sold last year.  The sale of those calendars helped us get through the rough winter.  In case you didn’t know, winter is a slow time Read more

  • How to Improve Our Bike Lanes

    Some towns in the Netherlands are considering geothermally heated bike lanes to melt ice & snow. Why can’t Detroit have geothermally heated bike lanes?*   http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/10/invention-we-wish-we-had-heated-bike-lanes/3706/# From Emily Badger of  The Atlantic. The article includes some interesting if unsurprising charts of seasonal riding patterns for Finland, Quebec & the Washington D.C. area.   *Please limit your answer Read more

  • Bikes of the Indian Summer, Jackrabbit Edition

    Click through to Bikes of the Now to see a newly hatched Pro-Build bike, built with all brand-new components on a Fuji frame.

  • Back Alley Bikes needs your help for our Bike Give-a-Ways (22/Oct/12)

    In this record setting year we’ve received more bicycle donations than ever. Many of them are 20” and smaller bikes meant to be ridden by children 7 years old and younger. Because of their size, these bikes will not go out through our regular Youth Earn-a-Bike sessions. This is where you come in. We need Read more

  • Pictures! Rainbows! Fall Colors! (19/Oct/12)

    Hey ya’ll, So I have to admit something…I’ve shown these photos on our facebook page already.  So if you “like” us on Facebook you’ve already seen these photos.  But not everyone uses facebook so I will now unveil our new Back Alley Bikes Workshop! Looks really pretty doesn’t it?  You see, every Saturday when we Read more

  • Jack VanDyke is awesome (16/Oct/12)

    I’m writing this post in advance of this date, but if everything is going as planned then today is Jack VanDyke’s last day as a staff member here at Back Alley Bikes.  It was planned this way because Jack has decided to step down from his staff position to spend more efforts on his family Read more

  • Bike lanes – a new language (12/Oct/12)

    I recently saw my friend Chuqitta.  It had been a year since I’ve seen her last.  We used to work together at my previous job in the HIV community.  She is a lovely woman that I can’t say enough about so we had a lot to catch up on.  Chuqitta currently lives in Dearborn Heights Read more

  • Bicymple

    The bicymple http://www.bicymple.com/ is a concept bike designed by Josh Bechtel of Scalyfish Designs. You can steer with either wheel!  The general idea has been floated before, though this take seems more polished. Currently it’s direct drive; he’s contemplating an internally geared hub in back. Here’s a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXmBrD4b4EI&feature=youtu.be Thanks to Lonnell Williams of the 48201 mailing Read more