Posted June 8th, 2020
Report Back from a month of Essential Services and what to expect in the future. Since BICAS reopened for essential services a little over a month ago we have had just shy of 1,000 visitors! That’s incredible. We are so pleased to be able to serve so many people in our community with bike sales, sliding scale repair services, receiving and providing bike donations to those in need, and offering parts and supplies sales for folks to keep their bikes safely running or to work on projects from at home. Whether you’re in search of a bicycle, want to fix up that old one in the garage, rely on your bike for daily transport, or need help accessorizing with lights, helmets, locks, and water bottles… we’re here for you. How you can help us help you.We are still offering all services through our north facing roll up door to minimize exposure risk for our customers and staff. At the moment the public is not able to come inside our building but we’re happy to do your shopping for you! We’re doing our best to keep you comfortable while waiting in line by providing shade structures. Here are some ways you can help us reduce wait time. If you are looking for parts please come prepared with a list and your name and number. If it’s more than we can search for on the spot, we’ll call you back at a later time to come pick stuff up. If you have donations feel free to wave us down from the door so that you don’t have to wait in line to drop them off. Looking for a bike? Feel free to check out the bikes posted on our facebook page or contact our sales team ahead of time at sales@bicas.org with information about what you’re looking for in a bike and how tall you are to get an idea of what we have available. This can help speed up your visit. Bikes are selling fast! We have sold nearly 100 since opening which is faster than we can fix them up. Please consider purchasing a used bike from us to schedule in for repairs to get it rideable. And remember to stay home when you or anyone in your household is sick and to wear a mask when you visit us if you have one. If not, consider buying one of our handmade masks!Sticking to our mission. We believe in access to mobility and making sure everyone can obtain sustainable transportation. We have serviced around 200 bikes since reopening, the majority of which have been subsidized repairs. We have set our rates on a sliding scale with the upper end reflecting the true cost of the repair based on average shop rates, but are dedicated to meeting you where you’re at with whatever you can afford. Your support helps us be able to offer our services to more people in need. Thank you for supporting the Tucson community through supporting BICAS. We’re all in this together. Moving forward.We know how eager you are for us to return to the many services we typically offer. We are too! However, we are dedicated to keeping our community and collective as safe as possible by use of risk assessment tools. We are adjusting and planning for safer ways to offer our classes and camps and to allow for controlled numbers of people inside our building as soon as the data can assure us that cases of COVID-19 are no longer on the rise in our county. We can’t predict when that will be but are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to post updates on our webpage and social media. We appreciate your patience as we focus on all the ways we CAN help you right now.
For over 36 years, BICAS has been a place where anyone could go to gain access to bikes, bike parts, bike repair, mechanics education and art. We have built a beautiful and much needed community resource where all are welcome, children can thrive through bike education, and low-income individuals can quickly gain access to resources needed to maintain their employment, housing, healthcare and access essential community resources. We take our commitment to this community very seriously, but at this time we are in a financial crisis and need your help.
In 2025, BICAS was owed $106,000 through a government funded grant, but this money was not paid out and then spent by the city of Tucson, causing BICAS much financial uncertainty. In 2026, several ongoing funders have been unable to provide grants due to the decreasing amount of federal funding available and drastic changes to the nonprofit funding landscape. These combined have immensely impact our small organization and as a result BICAS is at risk of closing or pausing our operations.
This shift means that we are more reliant on financial donations, and money raised in our bike shop. We are urgently asking you to consider making a donation to our organization in order to preserve bicas and ensure we can remain a resource for years to come. Any support you can offer is deeply appreciated and needed.
With much gratitude and love,
The BICAS Collective
How you can help us help you.
We are still offering all services through our north facing roll up door to minimize exposure risk for our customers and staff. At the moment the public is not able to come inside our building but we’re happy to do your shopping for you! We’re doing our best to keep you comfortable while waiting in line by providing shade structures. Here are some ways you can help us reduce wait time. If you are looking for parts please come prepared with a list and your name and number. If it’s more than we can search for on the spot, we’ll call you back at a later time to come pick stuff up. If you have donations feel free to wave us down from the door so that you don’t have to wait in line to drop them off. Looking for a bike? 
Feel free to check out the bikes posted on our facebook page or contact our sales team ahead of time at sales@bicas.org with information about what you’re looking for in a bike and how tall you are to get an idea of what we have available. This can help speed up your visit. Bikes are selling fast! We have sold nearly 100 since opening which is faster than we can fix them up. Please consider purchasing a used bike from us to schedule in for repairs to get it rideable. And remember to stay home when you or anyone in your household is sick and to wear a mask when you visit us if you have one. If not, consider buying one of our handmade masks!
Sticking to our mission.
We believe in access to mobility and making sure everyone can obtain sustainable transportation. We have serviced around 200 bikes since reopening, the majority of which have been subsidized repairs. We have set our rates on a sliding scale with the upper end reflecting the true cost of the repair based on average shop rates, but are dedicated to meeting you where you’re at with whatever you can afford. Your support helps us be able to offer our services to more people in need. Thank you for supporting the Tucson community through supporting BICAS. We’re all in this together.
Moving forward.
We know how eager you are for us to return to the many services we typically offer. We are too! However, we are dedicated to keeping our community and collective as safe as possible by use of risk assessment tools. We are adjusting and planning for safer ways to offer our classes and camps and to allow for controlled numbers of people inside our building as soon as the data can assure us that cases of COVID-19 are no longer on the rise in our county. We can’t predict when that will be but are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to post updates on our webpage and social media. We appreciate your patience as we focus on all the ways we CAN help you right now.