Blackstone Bicycle Works

Blackstone Bicycle Works is not a bike shop -- it's a youth education center built around bicycles. Since 1994, this Experimental Station program in Woodlawn has been teaching South Side kids ages 8-18 to build, fix, and earn their own bikes through hands-on programs mixing STEM education with real mechanical skills.

Adults can bring their bike to Open Shop on Wednesday evenings and learn to wrench on it with volunteer help. There are no new bikes for sale and no drop-off repairs. What there is, is a community space where bikes are the vehicle for something bigger -- and one of the most important cycling institutions in Chicago.