(From left) Rob Gassie and volunteer mechanic Kofi Thompson work on a bike with Jackson Prescott, 15, and Tresean Gilliam, 14. (Photo by Jay Paul)
In the basement of All Souls Presbyterian Church on Overbrook Road, there are 30 bicycles in varying conditions — some ready to be sold, others awaiting repairs.
Open only on Saturdays, it’s an unusual operation — part bike shop, part training center and part mentorship program for neighborhood teens. It also has a familiar feel — Joe’s Bike Shop is a re-creation of Streetcar Cyclery, a now-closed nonprofit run by Rob Gassie that was on Brookland Park Boulevard.
Gassie’s main business, Bing Bicycle Co., is building custom frames and providing service at a home workshop. When he had to leave the Streetcar space in October 2016, he planned to open a Bing shop across the street and continue his work with youth on Saturdays. That door closed, but another opened. Through the not-for-profit organization Embrace Richmond, Gassie was able to restart the youth program at All Souls in September. Initially he used the space at no charge; now he’s paying $100 per month.
The shop is named for the late Joe Kauffmann, with whom Gassie worked years ago at Agee’s Bicycle. “Joe was probably one of the most respected bike mechanics in Richmond,” Gassie says.
Joe’s Bike Shop gives teenagers a chance to learn how to work on bikes, and if they complete work on a bike for someone else, they can get one for themselves. Once they master some basic repairs, they can also make a little money while acquiring technical and business skills that prepare them to work at a bike shop. After subtracting the costs of parts, teens who work on the bikes get half of the money from sales; the other half goes toward shop expenses and equipment.
Jackson Prescott, a sophomore at Open High School, started working with Streetcar Cyclery when he was in middle school, and has since learned how to change a tire, overhaul bottom brackets and fix gear derailleurs. On a recent Saturday, he’s changing the cables and straightening the wheel on a late 1980s road race bike that was donated to the program. When it’s ready, Gassie estimates it will sell for $170. Hearing that, Prescott smiles and playfully pumps his fists into the air.
“He’s happy,” Gassie says, “because he’ll get half the profit.”