Everything You Need to Know About reBikes

Any parent who has despaired at buying yet another pair of new shoes for their child knows how quickly kids grow, but it’s not just clothing that kids outgrow. Before you know it they’ll have outgrown their shiny new bike and it will inevitably be left collecting dust in the shed or garage. 

That’s exactly why Bike Club exists; so that you never have to buy a kids bike again. Instead, Bike Club lets you exchange as they grow with subscription kids bikes. But what happens to your bike once it’s exchanged? Read on to find out just what a reBike is and what goes into our refurbishment process.

So, what is a reBike?

When you join Bike Club, you’ll have the choice of subscribing to a new bike or a reBike, which is simply one of our pre-loved bikes that has been expertly refurbished by our skilled team of mechanics. 

As your child grows you’ll be able to exchange your bike for the next size up. Each time you exchange a kids bike, we collect the old one and bring it back to our warehouse where it starts its journey to becoming a reBike and heading to a new home.

Assessing the Bike

The first step in refurbishing our bikes is to assess them. Kids aren’t known for the care they show to their possessions, so we start by separating our bikes into various conditions depending on how much work they need to get back into shape. 

Any bikes that can’t be refurbished are recycled. Thankfully at Bike Club we only stock kids bikes from premium quality brands that last, so most of our bikes can be ridden and loved by multiple families.

Cleaning the Bike

Once the bikes have been assessed they are cleaned in our special cleaning stations. We use environmentally friendly cleaning fluids to spray down the whole bike, stripping off all the dirt, grime, and grease. Believe us when we say bikes can get seriously dirty! There’s nothing more satisfying that seeing a mud-covered bike come out of these stations gleaming like new. Once the bike has been cleaned, it’s onto our expert mechanics for servicing.

Replacing Parts

The Bike Club team of mechanics have years of expertise behind them, and they run through an industry leading list of checks as they service our bikes. First the mechanics will check the frame isn’t damaged or misaligned in any way, then they’ll move onto all the parts, and nothing is off limits for them. Every part is checked and will be replaced if needed. That includes everything from tyres, saddles, and grips; to moving parts like chains, brake-pads, and chainrings.

They’ll also check that the wheels are ‘true’ – a fancy way of making sure they’re still round! They can tighten or loosen the spokes on the wheels to adjust the shape of the wheel all while making sure the tension of the spokes is balanced. It’s a highly specialised skill that takes a lot of practice to learn.

Paint Chips

Unfortunately getting scratches is the kids bikes lot in life, and anyone who has seen a child throwing a brand-new bike straight onto the ground will know that being precious about them is a losing battle. Whilst it is possible to touch up these scratches they will never look like new and will only get scratched again on their first ride, so we choose not to touch these up. That means you might find some marks on a reBike but they will never affect the functionality of the bike.

Quality Control

The last step in the process is QC or quality control. It’s the extra step that makes sure we never send out a bike that isn’t refurbished to the highest standard. Knowing that kids will be riding our bikes makes our mechanics incredibly proud to have the highest safety standards in the entire UK bike industry – nobody puts their bikes through as rigorous an inspection as we do before they get to our members.

Should I get a reBike?

Subscribing to a reBike means you’re contributing to the Bike Club circular economy – and that means we can help make the kids bike industry more sustainable for a cleaner, greener future. When more refurbished bikes are ridden, then fewer need to be manufactured in the first place and that helps to reduce emissions and energy usage.

Plus our reBikes are even more affordable, as the monthly fees are discounted compared to a new bike. So, if you’re looking to get a truly sustainable kids bike on subscription then rent a reBike and you’ll be saving even more than just the planet.