Recycle your bicycle: Schaumburg nonprofit gets refurbished bikes to those in need
To hear Ryan Gable tell it, he “needed to do something to earn this award.”
Gable’s good deed? In April 2020, mere months after the pandemic hit, he offered a Lombard nurse free use of the family’s RV to avoid spreading COVID-19 at home after caring for infected patients.
That offer made the news, no doubt inspired others, and earned Gable his Realtor association’s humanitarian/good neighbor award.
In 2021, “to earn this award,” he and wife Carrie founded Bikes & Music, a nonprofit giveaway program that collects, refurbishes and donates used bicycles and musical instruments to Chicago and suburban organizations. “That’s a crazy combination,” admitted Gable, a Palatine resident since 2001, “but that’s who we are.”
Gable is CEO of StartingPoint Realty, a residential real estate company in Schaumburg. Carrie is CEO of RealSupport Inc, a Schaumburg advertising agency for real estate. He enjoys mountain biking at Paul Douglas Forest Preserve, and both are into music, though neither are musicians. Each raised by single parents, they know well how kids in that situation grow up without bikes and instruments.
While 90% of donations originate in the suburbs, Gable guessed 60% of bikes go to suburban agencies while 70% of instruments end up in the hands of Chicago Public School students. Bike donations in the recent past went to Mount Prospect’s The Kid’s Pantry, Elgin’s Northeast Neighborhood Association, and Schaumburg’s Bright Point/Children’s Home and Aid.
Willing shops
Since 2021 Gable estimated more than 1,600 bikes and 1,600 helmets (“We don’t provide a bike without a helmet”) have been collected, repaired and donated. Such an undertaking takes shops willing to lend their services and skills, ensuring that refurbished bikes are reliably safe. Gable approached several shops in 2021 after establishing the nonprofit.
Mikes Bike Shop in Palatine was an early contributor. Crank Revolution in Hoffman Estates initially encouraged Gable. In July 2021, the shop provided repair and storage of donated bikes at Bikes & Music’s first bike swap/fundraiser in Rolling Meadows. In August 2022, Crank Revolution hosted a parking lot cookout following a fundraiser and group ride at Paul Douglas. Funds raised cover tuneups and repairs, plus helmets and locks.
As efforts grew, Streamwood’s Never Ending Cycles has provided more of the bike-related services. Co-owner and manager Mike Geigel recounted how Gable kept bringing in bikes to get tuned up for donation. After the third visit, Geigel asked what was up and they ended up agreeing on a reduced flat rate for repair service.
Geigel said his shop had been involved in repairing and donating used bikes even before Gable approached him, providing storage space before and after bikes received some love. He maintains a log each calendar year of every bike worked on and its distribution.
Shop donations vs. Bikes & Music donations, however, are hard to separate, he admitted. “We have repaired around 1,000 bikes for Bikes & Music,” Geigel said. “We also have had around 200 that the shop donated to organizations.”
Geigel was recently sworn in as a member of Streamwood’s new Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission.
Storage space needed
For bikes beyond repair, “We process them, strip working parts, and send the frames to metal recyclers,” Geigel said. No profits result from these, though cannibalized components do get new life on usable donation bikes.
His mechanics are kept busy over the quieter winter months, noting curbside pickups and used bike drop-offs are clustered in late fall as families are clearing out space. Geigel said nonprofits and charities receiving bike donations generally won’t take them until April and May. Storage space is an issue for him.
And not just for bikes and parts. He noted taking advantage of special vendor end-of-year deals, like discounted bike locks and helmets for the used bike donations. Geigel said his biggest find was a trucking company with about $5,000 worth of various bike components.
One storage relief valve is the covered trailer Gable purchased and parks at the shop. Used for deliveries and pickups, its capacity is only 35 bikes. At one point, the shop was able to store 200 bikes for free in a nearby storefront thanks to a landlord’s kindness. The downside was getting just three days’ notice to clear them out when the landlord made other plans for that unit.
Never Ending Cycles will celebrate its 10th anniversary June 13 with a special event including a bike and instrument drive. Bikes & Music will host a bike drive from noon to 2 p.m. May 16 at 851 McHenry Road alongside the Buffalo Grove Police Department’s annual Bike Rodeo.
Bike recycling
If you have an old bike or two just sitting around your garage, don’t even think about trashing it. April and May offer numerous sustainability and recycling events for donating used bikes, according to the Working Bikes collection calendar. On Saturday, April 18, Geneva’s Peck Farm Park, 4038 Kaneville Road, hosts its Bike Recycling Drive from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Schaumburg’s recycling event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 25 at Wintrust Field, 1999 S. Springinsguth Road, Schaumburg.
The Working Bikes calendar lists other suburban locations in April and May for donating used bikes.
For 26 years Chicago-based nonprofit Working Bikes has breathed new life into used bikes, distributing them to local and global communities. Largely suburban donations, bikes are refurbished for resale or giveaway locally, or shipped to partners in developing countries.
In 2025 alone, more than 9,500 bikes were shipped to developing nations — Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, and others. There, bikes are transportation workhorses, hence “working” bikes.
• Join the ride. Contact Ralph Banasiak at alongfortheridemail@gmail.com.