Mission Statement:
The primary goal of The Third Hand Bicycle Co-op is to promote cycling as safe and environmentally responsible transportation. The non-profit organization provides community members with the facilities and tools, as well as the skills and knowledge to help make cycling an essential part of their everyday lives


About:
The Third Hand Bicycle Co-op was originally incorporated July 1st 2003. A group of cyclists in Columbus created the idea for an organization that advocated responsible transportation and bicycle education. Following a year of development, the original organizers disbanded leaving behind the bicycles and tools that had been accumulated.

In Autumn of 2005 a new group of individuals began to reorganize the cooperative and continue the original intent of the organization. By studying the evolution of bicycle co-ops around the world, and the leveraging the work of the previous organizers, the Columbus-based bicycle cooperative was renewed with a strong dedication to provide members of the community with the facilities and knowledge needed to make cycling a part of their everyday lives.

Moving forward, the new organzers of Third Hand Bicycle Co-op are focused on creating a sustainable organization that will be around for years to come.

History:

The Third Hand Bicycle Cooperative of Columbus, Ohio was originally formed in 2003, but was slated for hibernation a year later, when its leadership disbanded.  The sight of its remnants -abandoned bikes, tools, parts, literature- gave another small group of people little choice but to reform the co-op. 

This town needed a community bicycle shop, we decided.  It needed a place where people could use tools freely and learn the mechanics of repair, could spend sunny afternoons organizing dusk rides, or volunteer to repair bicycles.  So in October of 2005, a few of us began spreading the word that someone had donated their garage for such a purpose.  That same few would embark on the organizational challenge of making it a sustainable possibilty.  We had little idea of what it would demand from us, but also of how it would reward us.

The sight of so many people coming out to help with this project, whether wrenching or organizing, was astonishing.  The excitement conducted through most people who came out to the shop in 2006.  Our renewed energy to take on the next year was due to the response we got from the people of Columbus.

We found ourselves in winter again, faced with neccesity of finding a new shop to work from.  And also faced with the challenge of turning a ìcool ideaî into a program that works and persists.  2007 was a deciding year for the Third Hand Bicycle Cooperative.  As organizers, we find and maintain a facility, and set the programs in motion.  As a community, we must hoist this cooperative into a lasting reality and have a place where everyone can access bicycles.