As the rash of well-meaning Instagram posts from bike brands early this summer indicate, the industry is well aware that it has a long way to go in terms of being more inclusive.
That’s part of why we get so stoked when a diverse group of cyclists gets together to ride to DC for the March on Washington. And why we’re excited about a couple initiatives that go beyond advocating for change and just make it themselves.
Rivendell Bicycle Works Reparations
First up is Rivendell Bicycle Works, a Bay Area steel bike brand that offers reparations in the form of a 45 percent discount to Black customers on bikes and frames sold through its website and warehouse store. Rivendell has quietly been granting the discount on an ad hoc basis for the past two years, but recently got more official, setting aside 10 percent of the 850 bikes it will make over the next year to be part of the program.
“Racism doesn’t respond to inaction or self-proclamation,” the brand states in its press release and Instagram post. “In other words, it doesn’t go away when you know, even in your bones, that all people are created equal. It responds to anti-racist action. Reparations are an example. Not because Reparations are “a nice thing to do,” but because they’re owed.”