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Steamwhistle plans to introduce bike repair stands to locations outside Toronto

Steamwhistle's distinctive green repair stands may be coming to western Canadian cities.
Steamwhistle's distinctive green repair stands may be coming to western Canadian cities.
Steamwhistle’s distinctive green repair stands may be coming to western Canadian cities.

What’s green and everywhere and will help you out if you ever get into trouble with your bike? If all goes well, it’s Steamwhistle’s new bike repair stations, coming to a street corner near you.

And we’re not just talking about Toronto when we say that.

Already having cropped up across Toronto, particularly near the brewery itself back in 2013, Steamwhistle’s distinctive green bike repair stands are a new, do-it-yourself feature of city cycling. Apart from the most recent stand that’s been installed outside the Duke of York pub in Toronto’s posh Yorkville district, two others have found homes in the city: one outside the Evergreen Brickworks, with another—brand new, according to reports—outside BikeSauce, a local bike shop.

The list, however, doesn’t stop even close to downtown Toronto. With the Duke of York location for these bike repair stands being the third in the city, other locations can be found in Ontario, too, including Guelph, Hamilton, London, Port Colbourne, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Kingston, Peterborough, Oro-Medonte, Paris, Ottawa, Hardwood Hills, and St. Marys. More, representatives told BikingToronto.com, are pending outside of Southern Ontario. Among those planned locations for the service—one that Toronto’s cycling community has taken to enthusiastically, with at least one bike club treating Steamwhistle’s parking lot, the site of the first repair station, as a landmark—are British Columbia and Alberta, where Steamwhistle plans to unveil a presence soon. One is at the Nook in Kitsilano, Vancouver, one is in Bragg Creek, Alberta, and two more are for Edmonton.

Built by Urban Racks, a Vancouver-based parking and accessories company for bikes, the stations are as unique as they are fully appointed. With their installation and maintenance provided by Steamwhistle, the repair stands feature a bike mount, a tire pump, a rack for locking up your bike, and 10 essential bike tools, all secured to the stand by cables. Additionally, the stands feature a lockbox in which to stow those tools away—although representatives say that vandalism, the reason for those boxes, hasn’t yet been much of an issue.

“We haven’t had to fix one yet,” said Steamwhistle’s communication director Sybil Taylor, speaking to Modelcyclist.com. “The communities we’re in are all really proud of them.”

It’s also another example of Steamwhistle’s dedication to cycling, having already built a reputation by handing out 20,000 beers to competitors at the end of 2014’s Ride to Conquer Cancer, hosting parties for Bixi members, and other notable moments.

“There is a natural affinity between cycling and craft beer,” said Taylor, speaking with Canadian Cycling Magazine. “I think people who enjoy both also share the same interest in a healthy lifestyle and in a connectedness with the local community. We wanted to give back to those people that have been supporting our independent brewery and once we started, the outpouring of support and congratulations from the cyclists just urged us on to do more. It’s been heartwarming and a lot of fun too. “