Vending Machines For Bike Parts

Most of the new-generation cycling cities lack a traditional bicycle culture, with no bike lanes, no bike parking facilities and no bike repair shops on every corner of the street. This makes it pretty frustrating to use the bike for daily routine trips. The people behind New York-based Bikestock have launched a solution for at least one of these problems: vending machines for bike parts on the street.

The first vending machine, that was placed in Brooklyn, offers all kinds of essentials for the urban cyclist on the move. The machine sells locks, tubes, tools, seasonal items, ponchos and patch kits, but also food and drinks for hungry and thirsty travelers.

Next to the machine small repair tools and a pump are attached to the wall, providing a complete do-it-yourself repair service to any cyclist in emergency. Once the concept shows to be successful, the initiators (who are active cyclists themselves) plan to install other machines in and outside New York City.

Besides the vending machine there’s a toolkit which is designed to live at businesses that operate on an extended hours basis, such as bars and late night delis. It serves as a counterpart to the vending machine by offering riders access to emergency bike parts and tools in places they’d never imagine. The toolkit comes with tubes, tires, chains, patch kits, and the tools you need to make repairs on the go. Bikestock’s first toolkit can be found at Calexico (645 Manhattan Avenue) in Brooklyn.

Interesting about Bikestock as a business is that it’s clearly not a traditional vending machine company that operates a wide variety of machines — Bikestock’s aim is to improve cycling culture in New York in the first place. The machine, its contents and also the style of Bikestock itself are very lovable, which might help the machine attract a group of loyal customers.