From orphan bike to Wheel Savers

Don't just say used bike to a bike from de Wielredders!

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In fact, by the time a bicycle reaches the stores at de Wielredders , it has come a long way.

The story of a Wielredders bicycle begins somewhere in a large warehouse of the City of Antwerp. Or actually even earlier, in the streets of Antwerp!

Indeed, masses of bicycles are abandoned there every year. When city authorities notice that a bicycle has been languishing in the same place for a long time, first a label with a message is attached to it, and even later the bike is picked up and ends up in a large warehouse of the city full of orphaned bikes.

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A second life for orphan bikes

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Three months later, a new chapter in the story of Bike x then begins. That's when some of these Antwerp orphan bikes are donated by the city services to the team at De Wielredders , and the bikes end up in our bike workshop in Mortsel.

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Here, would-be wheel rescuers are trained to become bicycle repairers who know the tricks of the trade inside out, until no bottom bracket or derailleur holds a secret from them. And that's particularly good news for the orphaned bikes, too, because by de Wielredders these bikes will go on to a new life!

Defective parts are replaced and the bicycle receives a thorough major maintenance until it is as good as new again. Even the bikes that are in too bad a condition to refurbish, we try to partially reuse them. The good parts are taken off the bike and recycled to refurbish other bikes.

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After this servicing, the bikes can proudly call themselves real Wielredders bikes and end up in our store in Antwerp or Lier.

So when you stop in at de Wielredders and adopt a bike with us, you can be sure that you are not only adopting years of cycling fun, but also contributing to a circular and social economy!

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So our motto is: Adopt, don't shop!

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