Quick Answers

Bicycle Exchange location: 3961 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA MAP.

Interested in volunteering? Explore our event calendar and visit our Eventbrite page to RSVP for upcoming opportunities. New volunteers can find details about our volunteer roles and general information.

Stopping by our shop? Make an appointment to shop for a bicycle or parts, ask us questions about volunteering, drop off a donation, receive service for your bike, or anything else! Shop Hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 12 pm - 5 pm.

Have a bicycle to donate? Donate bicycles and parts by emailing us photos and details of what you have, to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We'll let you know if we need your items and get you the drop-off details. Please do not make an appointment to drop off a bicycle without emailing us photos first; we cannot accept all bicycles and parts.

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange is a Section 501c(3) non-profit organization.

Have questions? Contact us.

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A global pandemic. Canceled volunteer days. A bike shortage. A backed-up bike parts supply chain. Destructive fires and horrible air quality. And a serious concussion!

I certainly couldn’t have predicted any of these challenges a year ago when I joined SVBE, but I’m proud to say we’ve somehow survived all of these, and end 2020 with a lot to be thankful for.

I have 5,023 reasons to be thankful this year!

That’s how many hours our tireless group of dedicated volunteers logged so far in 2020. Without our large events, we certainly didn’t have the same workforce as we had in non-pandemic years, with 762 fewer volunteers, but our 2020 volunteers were superhuman, repairing 91% of the number of bikes we did in 2019, in just 46% of the hours. That’s impressive productivity and dedication, and I’m deeply grateful for all the hard work in keeping our mission going in 2020.

Our year, briefly, in numbers:

  • 546 bikes donated
  • 5,023 volunteer hours
  • 318 volunteers
  • 495 homework bikes 

Thanks to our dedicated, loyal crew of volunteers, we got quite a bit done! Fifty volunteers repaired 495 bikes at home, with 11 of these tireless souls completing 10 or more bikes at home.

Volunteer Chris Jasper inspects one of his many homework bikes.
Volunteer Chris Jasper inspects one of the many homework bikes he worked on in 2020.

Equally impressive, 45 volunteers put in 20 or more hours this year, at home or at our small volunteer events. The members of these two groups deserve special recognition:

  • Adam S.
  • Andrew P.
  • Bob M.
  • Carol M.
  • Chris J.
  • Colleen D.
  • Dave E.
  • Dave F.
  • Dave G.
  • Dave Z.
  • David G.
  • David K.
  • Doreen Y.
  • Ethan C.
  • Etienne G.
  • Grant G.
  • Günter S.
  • Jack G.
  • Jack M.
  • John F.
  • John G.
  • John L.
  • Johnnie T.
  • Jonathan W.
  • Judy C.
  • Kent F.
  • Lauren Z.
  • Lucy H.
  • Luke Z.
  • Mark L.
  • Mary K.
  • Mary R.T.
  • Mateo E.
  • Michael K.
  • Patrick T.
  • Paul P.
  • Paul S.
  • Pete L.
  • Rachael H.
  • Rob K.
  • Robert N.
  • Roger C.S.
  • Sam B
  • Shree S.
  • Sue L.
  • Taghi S.
  • Tom F.

We also have plenty of other 2020 successes to celebrate. We’ve opened a new retail space, moved into the current millennium with our paperless volunteer logging and sales receipts, received two grants (thank you Palo Alto Community Fund and Palo Alto Weekly!), taken in record bike and part donations, launched our first-ever silent auction, partnered with Green Town Los Altos, Stanford University, Gunn High School, Los Altos High School, Santa Clara County and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and sold quite a few parts on eBay and bikes through our new e-commerce website.

This all happened during such a challenging time that felt like a 20% grade with a 40mph headwind. I can’t thank you all enough for your hand in getting SVBE up and over the 2020 mountain. 

I can’t predict what the next year and COVID-19 pandemic has in store for us, but given our successes in the past year, I’m excited to climb even higher with you in 2021. 

Happy holidays and stay safe,

-Andrew

30 refurbished bikes from Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange head to a partner charity for those who need transportation and independence.

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