The Bike Coop ABQ

05/17/2023

a decision: EVERYTHING MUST GO….

Join us for our final Memorial Day Weekend sale & closing celebration

Hey y’all, thanks for your patience, compassion and understanding as we sort through both the chaos and the emotion that come with closing the shop — it’s been a wild ride as I try to formulate a plan and figure out what’s REALLY important and how to best move forward.

There’s been a change of the (ever-evolving) plans.

In the end, at some point there will likely have to be a tell-all book about the events of the last three years… but as of today, after a lot of thought and consideration, I’ve made the decision to walk away from the bike business almost completely rather than pursue a smaller operation with fresh goals.

Refusing to let the shop die was the biggest and first motivation of taking over a few years back, and I figured if we were going to do it, we’d at least do the damn thing right.

And we did. God, we really did do it so right — in so, so, so many ways.

But my heart isn’t and hasn’t ever been in owning a bike shop: I did it out of necessity. I also did it to take care of people I loved who were about to lose a lot and who hadn’t been paid in months.

I did it to keep an Albuquerque’s oldest shop in business.

I did it to keep folks working and to grow the number and level of bike mechanics in Albuquerque, and to introduce new opportunities. To close the gap between what we knew was possible and what we were actually doing.

I did it because someone had to.

And I did it because it was an adventure I hadn’t been on yet and because I knew we could do it right.

That we could run a bike shop how they all should be.

And we did. For so long. Despite allllllllllllllll the challenges and struggle and sacrifice… we did it so well.

Because we could.

But that’s not what I want anymore… not even at The Garage.

So I won’t.

Which means that in ten days from now when we open our doors for the last and final time for our Memorial Day weekend sale on May 26-28th, everything must go.

Everything.

Yes, everything in the cases and everything in the displays.

All of the vintage bikes and frames and precious, collectible wheelsets.

Yes, the tools and stands and everything that isn’t nailed down.

Yes, even *that thing* that I said wasn’t for sale a couple of weekends ago.

Come and get it.

We’re trying to get price tags on everything, but honestly — during those three days, just make me a fair offer.

If there’s something you’ve seen that you’d like to own, say the word.

I’m just so, so, so grateful. That’s the biggest thing here and the central reason I kept at it for so long — the gratitude to be able to continue the legacy of The Coop, to improve on it, to make it shine again… even if only for a little while longer.

I’m so grateful to everyone who was part of this journey, even the ones who brought tough lessons, and yes — even the people who caused harm. But so much bigger than anything else was every single person who gave their time, energy, feedback, experience, joy, hope, pain, frustration… you all gave us something real to build on. And we did it the absolute best we could. This team — every version of it and every person who was part of it — worked their asses off to keep the dream alive, even when the odds were stacked against us. Nothing we did here would’ve been possible without the help, expertise and support of the people who made The Bike Coop everything that it was, and so so so much more.

This was a transformative adventure, and one I won’t forget anytime soon — nor will any of the other folks involved, I hope.

Thanks for coming along with us.

I REALLY hope to see you at our Memorial Day weekend closing celebration — it’s not a funeral, it’s a party.

— AB

shop online early, beginning Monday, May 22nd.

Click here for an update from The Bike Coop!

05/11/2023

It’s time.

As you’ve more than likely heard by now, The Bike Coop is closing our doors after 46 years in business.

The ‘why’ has been laid out over the last few weeks and months across our social media and even in local news reports after consistent difficulties with thefts, vandalism, staffing shortages, our landlords and a few other unfortunate events. Those are established and well-known difficulties, despite efforts to pick ourselves up and dust off the exhaustion.

The ‘how’ hasn’t really been discussed, which is why we’re sending you this email. It doesn’t cover all the details of every step, but that’s because we’re still trying to figure it all out. So we’ll keep you posted as well as we’re able to and in what we hope is a timely fashion.

A beloved local shop suddenly saying “we’re closing!” and hosting a final goodies sale at 50% without giving further information has got to be a pretty weird feeling if you’re watching it all unfold from the outside of the situation as a casual observer, but especially so as a customer or someone who frequented the shop. We get it.

That’s directly my fault (Amanda), and I’m sorry for not providing more details for those asking “BUT HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME??” in a completely understandable and fully justified way.

So here’s the lowdown on some of those details:

— if you have a bike or part in the shop right now for service with us and you haven’t heard anything from us, PLEASE check your voicemail. yes, we do still have your bike and yes, it’s also probably finished (unless we’ve already discussed your issue and the outcome with you prior to this email and your expected time-of-completion).

To that end: WE WILL BE AT THE SHOP FROM 12-6pm TOMORROW & FRIDAY, May 11th & 12th, for completed bike, service work and special order pickups.

We will not be conducting ‘normal’ business or taking in ANY service work (no, not even a tube change) for the duration of this process. Please be considerate and do not make us repeat this.

— no, we haven’t sold any customer bikes or property (c’mon now!) and are still at 120 Yale working our very hardest to wrap up loose ends.

— yes, the ‘FINALFIFTY’ discount code is still valid on our website for 50% off of all items and…

— YES, we are shipping orders out as we speak. Orders placed for unavailable items have been and will be immediately refunded; if you haven’t received a cancellation notice email and a refund for your order or items in it, your order is processing and will ship out this week.

— yes, we will have another closing sale of co-op parts and whatnot; keep an eye on our social media pages or here in your inbox/our newsletters for more information on when that sale will be.

— yes, we are sticking to our commitments and finishing all work and wrapping up loose ends. No, we’re not just going dark and leaving things on the sidewalk outside of the shop (even as wildly appealing as that may seem right now, ha!).

That has not and will not ever be how we handle things, and certainly not how we’ll say goodbye to the people who’ve believe in and supported us over the years.

We STILL stand behind our work and the service we provided, and continuing that legacy means closing our doors in an honorable, respectful and responsible way — the same way that we’ve always tried to do business.

You can stay tuned for updates and information about the rest of our closing process and future closing sales by subscribing to our email list via the website or checking on our Instagram page, where it’s easiest to disseminate information to a large audience. Please don’t send us individual emails or call the shop with inquiries that aren’t directly related to immediate service work; while we love you and appreciate the condolences and gossip, we’re being pulled in a lot of different directions right now as this entire process is exhausting.

PLEASE also check your voicemail mailboxes and email junk folders — we’ve spent a considerable amount of time and effort trying to get in touch with customers and finish up service work during what’s been a really tough time, and frantic or panicked emails and phone calls from customers are stressful AF, especially when those emails and calls are wholly preventable.

Thanks for your continued patience, compassion and understanding as we stumble through the very messy process of dismantling something we lovingly built over the years. It matters. ❤️❤️

Shop Online

use the discount code ‘FINALFIFTY’ at checkout for 50% off your entire purchase.

Click here for an update from The Bike Coop!

05/03/2023

We just wanted to say ‘thanks!’

More than 45 of you (!!!) came to hang out and learn with us during our four-week spring clinic series in April, and that’s a HUGE FREAKIN DEAL.

So good work, y’all.
Riders, friends, community — it was so fun meeting and working with all of you on skills and techniques!

We had such a great time and WE learned a lot from all of YOU about what our wonderful Albuquerque community wants and needs as well as how we can continue helping contribute;
we’re launching a few new programs this month because of the feedback and ideas so many of you brought up, and we can’t wait to share those.

but first: a bonus!

1: if you participated in the clinic and need any accessories or new gear to up your game (think pedals, grips, dropper seatpost or a helmet and gloves), you’re in luck — you can use the coupon code SPRINGSERIES10 in our online shop or in store for 10% off your entire purchase. Yep, it’s true.

2: if you came to at least one clinic, you may be eligible for compensation… just kidding. But you do get one of the FREE SWAG BAGS that we gave out during week three; swing by The Bike Coop any time during business hours to pick it up.

3: we’ll also be hosting monthly FTW (femme/trans/women) MTB rides and really cool events all summer long and into the fall, so make sure to add this email address to your contacts list in order to avoid missing any of our sweet updates and emails (we rarely send them, cross-our-hearts).

Keep scrolling for more info and photos, and thanks again for coming out for The Bike Co-op x MoreButtsOnBikes’ ! You’re all badass and it was an amazing experience. 💕

Cheers!
— Amanda L, Anne G, Amanda B & everyone at MBOB + The Bike Coop

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

If you had some fun and want to continue growing your skills, there’s another women’s progression clinic happening over the next few weeks courtesy of Mackenzie Van Vossen and a wide crew of amazing volunteers (we’ll be there to support with free drinks, hot wrenching and some mediocre life advice).

Those will be held at a few different locations in the ABQ and Santa Fe areas — you can sign up for those free progression clinics HERE (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdiTmHa6rl3k8h3D19vcm7zkYeJ4tCNpmO1Ao_8h4iFkl3LbA/viewform?fbclid=PAAabSjy3W9BscQzVFfUszLvc9Ulfl3nLB4Yl9alk-_j-Yusklyg_ZiQaqqAg) or by clicking on the bright orange button below.

Don’t Forget To Use Your Code ‘SPRINGSERIES10’!

save on fresh spring goodies when you shop online or in store and use that super special discount code through June 1st.

Click here for an update from The Bike Coop!

05/01/2023

We have the perfect Sunday bike for Mother's (and Other’s) Day.

If you’re looking for a meaningful gift for your unique matriarch on her special day, we have just the thing… because joyful grins and happy tears are never bad. 💐

Moms (and grans and aunties) are special and important — and we’re saying ‘thank you’ with a Mother’s Day discount. Use ‘MOMS10’ at checkout in store or online for 10% off everything, today through Sunday.

Click here for an update from The Bike Coop!

03/08/2023

Get ready: those packages are in the mail!

If you’ve ever ordered bike parts online only for it to show up with some very sad horn style (WAH WAH), we’d like to put you on notice that those days are officially over… at least when it comes to us.

Mail and package day should be exciting — so I decided to translate the feeling of being inside The Bike Coop into a shippable size so that no matter where you are in the world, if you‘re receiving a package from us, it’s gonna be a good day.

Those of you who’ve ordered our newest shirts or anything else through our webstore recently will be the very first wave (👋🏻) to unbox the love, so get very, very excited — I can’t wait to hear what you think.

For everyone else, if you didn’t know we offered international shipping on (almost) everything we have, CONGRATS: now you know. Send it! ❤️

🚲💨

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03/06/2023

Whether you had a wet n wild weekend or a dry and messy one, we just hope you had a whole lot of fun! If your ride needs a spring tune up or even just a clean up after all that fun, come see us to talk about how to pack more fun into your weekends.

PS: did you know that every tune-up at the Bike Coop comes with a complete wash and shine… even our most basic tune? 💦 Yup. That’s why we’re still making bikes AND their humans happy AF, every single day.

because we can.

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03/04/2023

means we get to post all three bikes we were lucky enough to finish up and send out this week, and boy howdy was it so much fun to make these ones happen!

From a mini Marin 24” MTB worthy of endless bike park laps (thanks to + cranks) to the stripped, re-painted and fully custom 27.5 Specialized Stumpjumper, this little collection for the littles was a NASA-sized blast back to planet stoke… and not just because the sparkle on that IronHorse is all time, either.

When someone says “I want a blue fade that matches THESE pedals and maybe some black or silver” or “he likes red and grey” or “shiny silver and turquoise is the current mood”, we make that OUR mood — and it shows.

Custom kid’s bikes aren’t cheap, but entire core memories that can shape a whole life shouldn’t be, right?

No pressure, tho… 😂

Come talk to us about what we do to go above and beyond and how we often work with to meet a parent’s budget… ✨ because we can™ ✨

Thanks to the amazing families who grant us these opportunities to get creative and give back!

🚲💨

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03/03/2023

Oh, you broke your super old-school Simplex 5sp rear derailleur and desperately need a new one?? Imagine if there were a local resource for something like that with brand new, old-stock parts and an entire work space where you can install it…?

OH MY GOD THERE ACTUALLY IS.

Between the retail and pro shop up front here at and the in back, we’ve got you fully covered… like the very best type of lovely lil’ bike shop mullet: business in the front, party in the back! 🎉

Why? BECAUSE WE CAN. 😘

Come dig through these bins, buy the cables and housing you need, and then use our entire collection of pro wrench tools to make your bicicleta dreams come true.

It’s how we roll. 🚲💨

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03/03/2023

We’re starting March off fresh… 🌱

Effective tomorrow, 3/3/23, our new permanent hours of operation will be 12pm - 6pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Check out our Instagram post for more details, but don’t forget that you can always shop all of the in-store inventory at our online webstore, 24/7!

Lucky you.

Mark your calendars: our free, monthly WTFNB+ bike repair clinics!

Every second Wednesday of the month, we’re hosting inclusive, no-cost bike repair clinics on different topics in our newly revamped Co-op space!

March’s clinic will be Wednesday, March 8th and focus on drivetrain function and adjustment, and will include parts of the drivetrain such as derailleurs, cassettes, cranks, bottom brackets and shifters!

If you’d like to get to know your bike better and dispel some of the most common myths, bring your ride and come wrench with us!

the weather is warming up and we’ll be on a limited-availability service schedule this spring, so make sure you bring your bike in for its annual tune up before the rush hits!

Check out our event on Wednesday, Mar 8, 2023.

Click here for an update from The Bike Coop!

03/03/2023

Right when most shops are expanding their hours for spring, we’ve decided to do the exact opposite:

Beginning tomorrow, 3/3/2023, our permanent operating hours will be 12-6p, Tuesday through Saturday.

Don’t fret: every single item we have in stock is still shoppable 24/7 on our webstore, all for in-store pickup or shipping to anywhere in the world! That’s right: you don’t even have to come into the store to see exactly what you’re looking to buy… ✨ IMAGINE. ✨

To be serious for a minute, there are a few reasons for this, but the main one is that I’m putting a little more balance into the work/life equation and setting a few more healthy boundaries for how and where I spend my finite existence.

Last weekend was a wake up call for me (AB) on multiple levels, but especially about being a one-person/one-doggo operation — I can’t operate a show-room floor and wrench on bikes seven or eight hours a day without wanting to do the murders. Not mentally, not physically and not emotionally… so I’m not.

Being able to push the shop’s opening time back by just one hour widens the ability to actually get projects started and done, as well as creating more opportunities for morning-hour clinics, rides and other community-based fun… cuz that’s also a big part of why I own a shop, and I’ve found myself being disappointed in the lack of time I have to do anything other than slave away under the bright lights of my sweet lil’ bike surgery theatre.

Humans need and deserve more.

So that’s what I’m giving myself — more time to trail build (and ride!), more time to take Koba for walks and runs and rides, more time to spend thinking about cool new products and ideas and in general, more space and peace and calm.

Thanks in advance for supporting this decision AND respecting the shop’s working hours and service levels — it’s greatly appreciated and keeps everyone alive, relatively sane and in one piece.
⚡️🤘🏻⚡️

See y’all at noon!

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03/02/2023

I’ll warn you in advance: today is gonna have a LOT of posts and cover a LOT of information, so go ahead and unfollow right now if you’re sick to death of hearing from the shop… BUT.

It’s all great, amazing, beautiful news. So!

After last night’s clinic that had only a few of us bike kiddos in it, we collectively decided to move our free Wednesday Night WTFNB+ clinics to the + S E C O N D W E D N E S D A Y + of every month, simply because that seems like an easier day that works for more folx.

So if you missed last night’s clinic, don’t stress: it’s been rescheduled! — • NEXT WEEK, March 8th, @ 6:30pm at (Alleyway entrance at 120 Yale Blvd SE) — •

Easy peasy, right?? RIGHT!

In other news, Eli () had the excellent idea of sending out a monthly email on the first of each month with a calendar of clinics, events and general rad bike stuff — so we’re gonna do THAT, too!

If you haven’t signed up for our mailing list, click on the link in our bio to visit our website and subscribe to all the wonderful chaotic circus stuff that goes on in this little slice o’ heaven, and I promise to do my best to keep everyone updated about what’s going on. (I will not be perfect at it, but we’re striving for excellence here, never perfection.)

If you haven’t put it down in your calendars yet or shared this post with y’all’s friends and loved ones, YOU CAN DO IT NOW. 😍

Because we’re planners! Doing the planning thing! Hooray!

I love ya, treasure you and can’t wait to see y’all. ❤️

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03/01/2023

Y’all, we hope you didn’t forget about the WTFNB+ bike maintenance clinic TONIGHT at 6:30p — because we sure haven’t!

Meet at the entrance to at the back of the shop at 120 Yale Blvd SE at approximately 6:30p and we’ll make these shenanigans happen!

Tonight’s lesson plan is for all things drivetrain — derailleurs, chains, cranks, shifters and BBs, plus all of your pressing questions about “what the **** does THIS bolt do?!”

We sure hope y’all will join us again this round — it’s gonna be rad!

⚡️

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