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Portland Gear Hub

Portland Gear Hub

Portland's Non-Profit Bike and Outdoor Gear Shop
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  • Bikes & Gear

    Portland Gear Hub

    Operating Hours:

    Tues – Fri 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
    Saturday 10:00am – 4:00 pm

    CLOSED for Thanksgiving and the day after: 11/23 and 11/24. Open Saturday!

    207-761-7632

    155 Washington Ave. Portland, ME

  • Bike School

    bike school workstations

    The Portland Gear Hub’s Bike School is a dedicated education and program space located across from Kennedy Park in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood.

    85 Anderson St., Portland, ME

    Open Bench Time every Tuesday and Friday, 3 – 6PM

    CLOSED on Thanksgiving and the day after: 11/23 and 11/24

    Join our newsletter to learn more about available classes, programs, and volunteer opportunities!

Getting Everybody on Bikes, Together

Did you know that with your support, over 200 people earned bikes at no cost this year? Every donation and every purchase YOU make helps us get more of our community safely out on bikes through our Bikes for All Mainers and Kids Bike Party earn-a-bike programs.

Registration for our programs will open again in spring of 2024.

Volunteer With Us

Volunteering is a great way to learn about repairing bikes and meet other bike friends! View the details and sign up for a shift here:

Volunteer Information

Open Bench Time

Open Bench Time is an all-ages drop-in program at our Bike School location to work on your own bike. Individuals work independently to repair their bike using our repair stands, benches, and tools. A staff mechanic is available for assistance and a selection of used and new parts are available for sale. A bench can be used for a maximum of 90 minutes at a time.

Open Bench Time is offered at a sliding scale with at a suggested rate of $0 – $20 per session. 

More Info Here!

Tuesdays 3 – 6 PM

Fridays 3 – 6PM

There will be no Open Bench Time hours on Friday, 10/6 and Tuesday, 10/24

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Antique of the week brought to you by the amazing
Antique of the week brought to you by the amazing @jessebillypilgrim ! This week's antique is a really cool old pair of ski poles from the 1940's that are equipped with a "B.D. Grip." The poles themselves are made of aluminum and leather and are in surprisingly nice shape. They have nice large powder baskets for backcountry touring and come to an alarmingly sharp point on the pointy end.  The most interesting part of these poles is The B.D. Grip, which is clamped to the shaft of the pole up near the handle. It was made in Seattle, Washington by the company A&T. This Grip is a device made to grip a rope tow, so you don't have to grab the rope yourself. Rope tows are a cost effective and simple way to get lots of people to the top of the mountain, but generally result in your jacket and gloves being ripped up. Spruce Mountain in Jay, Maine still operates as a tow rope only mountain and requires leather work gloves.  This B.D. Grip has a patent number on it which makes it super easy to look up on the internet. I'm going to quote some slightly edited copy from the patent because it is way better than anything I could ever write. "The invention, in general, relates to means for facilitating the safe conveyance of skiers from the bottom to the top of a hill. In recent years a number of ski tow devices of various types have been made available to skiers as aids in reaching the summit of a hill.  A majority of these devices perform their intended purpose reasonably well, but many of them are inherently dangerous to a skier because no effective means are provided therein for enabling a skier to quickly release himself from the rope and as a result, a skier is often thrown and dragged considerable distances and is subject to becoming entangled in the rope tow driving apparatus at the top of the hill." The patent was filed by Robert E. Dye of Oakland California in 1941 and has a pretty awesome drawing of how it was to be used included in it. I don't know if local tow ropes still allow devices like the B.D. Grip, but we have one here at the PGH Garage if you are looking to save your Kinko Gloves and Carhartt jacket from getting too messed up.

The Holidays are near! Come stop by and see our bi
The Holidays are near! Come stop by and see our bikepacking bags from @ovejanegrabikepacking They make great gifts for the biker in your life!

Open tomorrow for Small Business Saturday, 10am –
Open tomorrow for Small Business Saturday, 10am - 4pm with 15% OFF used bike parts and As-Is bikes. ♻️ Shop used and shop local!! We’ve been adding more and more organized used bike parts to the retail space for your digging pleasure, like this new milk-crate shelving unit built by Jesse this week! FYI - we’re closed today (Friday).

Antique of the Week freshly pine tarred by @jesseb
Antique of the Week freshly pine tarred by @jessebillypilgrim I'm a big fan of cool old wooden skis. I've featured a few pairs in the past, but this week's antique is a "Collab" (as the kid's are saying these days) between the French ski brand Rossignol and the Swedish furniture and ski manufacturer Edsby Verken. These "Ski Master" skis are outfitted with some classic 3 pin Skilom bindings but can be retrofitted to work with a modern NNN binding. This is one of the only pairs of wooden skis that I have seen that has been stained green on the top and I like it at lot. Edsby Verken (or Edsby Works) started in 1899 in Edsby, Sweden as a small furniture shop. By the 1930's they had evolved, expanded, and started applying Henry Ford's production line technique to include skis and start mass producing furniture. In the 1970's they produced more wooden skis than any other manufacturer but stopped making skis in the 1980's. Edsby Verken still exists today making high end office furniture. To tune a pair of wooden skis you must pine tar them to help make the bases water resistant. This involves brushing heated pine tar into the base with a torch to the point where you start to see little bubbles. This helps the pine tar seep into the pores of the wood and will seal out moisture. To wax for glide you will then apply a cold weather kick wax on the tips and tails that when buffed with a brush will give the skis a nice shiny finish. While wooden skis are not great for all conditions they ski beautifully when properly waxed in fresh new snow. Having these as your only pair of skis might not be recommended because here on the coast of Maine we rarely have fresh new powdery snow. We generally recommend waxless bases to help bite into the icy slop that we are usually served up during a coastal storm, but I highly recommend having a pair of cool old wooden skis in your quiver for that perfect pow day. #antiqueoftheweek #woodenskis #edsbyn #rossignol #pinetar

Check it out this weekend ! Les Sages Fous: TRICYC
Check it out this weekend ! Les Sages Fous: TRICYCKLE presented by @mayostreetarts at @mainestudioworks Come experience the bewitching spectacle of Les Sages Fous’ TRICYCKLE! Performed wordlessly through a musical score composed of invented instruments, an assortment of inscrutable objects, and precise, captivating puppetry, TRICYCKLE shares the journey of a scrapman’s quest for freedom from his dark past. Guided by a curious bike, his life unfolds in surreal illusions and surprising encounters. TRICYCKLE is presented by @mayostreetarts, and made possible through sponsorship by @mainestudioworks, @cyclemaniaportland, and @thefrancismaine, and support from @quebecboston and @nefa_arts. This experience materializes at Maine Studio Works on Saturday, Nov 18 at 7:00 PM & Sunday, Nov 19 at 5:00 PM! Get tickets now at MayoStreetArts.org (@mayostreetarts link in bio!)

This is what a full lot looks like to us: kids and
This is what a full lot looks like to us: kids and families choosing bikes and safely test riding at Kids Bike Parties!! 🎈 🚲 Our Here to Stay campaign is underway. Please join us in our fundraiser to purchase our building and lot by next year. Donate link in bio!!

Antique of the Week from the co-parent of celebrit
Antique of the Week from the co-parent of celebrity dog @peachypeachkissykiss —- @jessebillypilgrim This week we have a cute one. It comes from the Tucson based brand RoxUSA and it is a product named Dog Earz. Dog Earz is a accessory that Velcros onto your helmet straps and helps keep the wind off your ears. These look like an excellent idea and a quick google search shows lots of blog and message board posts about how great these things are. People love using them on their horseback riding helmets and they also help reduce wind noise while biking on windy days. Unfortunately, they also make it tougher to hear traffic, but they are sure to warn you about this right on its very cute packaging. RoxUSA seems like a cool small company. I was excited they are still in business and have been for 35 years! They make hats, balaclavas, rim tape and of course Dog Earz. They are still located in Tucson and operate mainly out of an Etsy shop. I'll leave you with a quote from their website: "All of the creations you will see with the ROX label are made in the U.S.A.. Always have been. Always will be. No sweatshops, no corporate crap. Just two enthusiastic cycling entrepreneurs! Someone once referred to us as "two idiots with a sewing machine"! Now days we have more than one machine." -RoxUSA #antiqueoftheweek #dogearz

We’ve got 2 refurbished fat bikes in the shop to
We’ve got 2 refurbished fat bikes in the shop today! We don’t get many used fat bike donations, so we’re happy to have these available and at a great deal too. Framed Wolftrax - 17in - $555 rebuilt with a Box Four groupset and Maxxis tires Snap-On - 16in - $485 - excellent entry level bike to get into the fun of fat biking! #gearhubbike #shopusedshoplocal

Feeling excited for the ski’son ahead ⛷️

N
Feeling excited for the ski’son ahead ⛷️ Now accepting all donations and consignment of XC Ski gear, Snowshoes, and Winter apparel ! #shopusedshoplocal ♻️


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The Portland Gear Hub
155 Washington Ave.
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 761-7632

© 2023 Portland Gear Hub. All Rights Reserved.

Ketcha Outdoors
336 Black Point Rd
Scarborough, ME 04074
(207) 883-8977

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Fall Ride Benefitting The Portland Gear Hub

Registration

Seasonal Pause on Bike Donations

Due to storage contraints the Gear Hub will not be accepting bicycles from October 1 – March 1. Please hold on to your bikes until spring when we will gladly begin accepting bike donations again!

We ARE accepting all donations of XC Ski gear at this time!

Thank you.

 

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