There’s usually not much interesting to say about cycle repair – you drop off your bike, come back later, pay, and collect it fixed and ready to ride. How it was patched up, in the layman’s eyes, might as well be magic. Zagreb’s BicPop, however, operates under a very different model.
Located in the city centre, BicPop is a volunteer bike-repair service that emphasises participation. Every Thursday, between 5pm and 8pm, visitors can bring their bicycles to the workshop where volunteers will assist in getting them fixed up.
Provided on location are the tools and advice needed for all to learn how to patch up their bike’s problems on their own, and the entire process is completely free of charge – save for specific parts that might be needed that visitors must bring themselves.
In essence, BicPop’s volunteers are on hand to guide you in understanding your own bicycle better and to equip you with practical skills that can, in the long run, save you some cash – either from overpaying at a bike shop or from expensive tools you’ll rarely need to use.
The volunteer workshop is an offshoot of Zelena Akcija ('Green Action'), an environmentalist organisation in Croatia which is a member of the Friends of the Earth International network. BicPop’s coordinator – Eugen Vuković – launched the project in 2009 after visiting Germany and taking inspiration from the 'bike kitchens' he came across. Their emphasis on volunteerism, community-building, recycling and reuse motivated him to set up something similar in Croatia's capital.
As such, it's unsurprising that another crucial aspect of the workshop is its recycling programme. Instead of seeing perfectly usable vehicles – or at least perfectly usable parts – end up in a landfill, BicPop encourages the public to donate old bikes that they no longer intend to use so that they can either be restored and given to those who might not be able to afford one or stripped for useful parts that can later be used for repairs.
This volunteer-run participatory programme is unique, and offers a wonderful alternative vision of the relationship between people and their things. Those interested in getting their two-wheeled machines back on the bike lanes – and learning a new skill for no cost – can stop by at Frankopanska 1 every Thursday.
Where: BicPop, Frankopanska 1
When: Thur 5pm-8pm