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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.

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With all the mountain bikes, sport bikes, and race bikes that have graced this space, it might seem that this rather odd-looking kids’ bike is a bit out of place here. It is, in fact, the first Schwinn Stingray (more accurately, Lemon peeler) I have seen in the shop.

You might not realize it, but this is one of the best-selling bicycles in history. Produced from 1963 to 1981, in its heyday something like 60 percent of all the bikes sold in the US were Stingrays and variants.

Schwinn Stingray, Refurbished by Cap'n Jonny © Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange bikex.org
Schwinn Stingray, Refurbished by Cap'n Jonny © Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange / bikex.org

Many consider it the direct precursor of the mountain bike, dreamed up by Southern California kids to mimic custom motorcycles and an instant smash hit when a production version was introduced. 

The Stingray was one of Schwinn's most popular bikes.
The Stingray was one of Schwinn's most popular bikes.

This Stingray was built in 1968 and had been painted with house paint over the original purple enamel when I received it. The frame was stripped to bare metal and painted Rustoleum Safety yellow. I disassembled the springer fork, cleaned off rust, polished, and re-assembled it.

The famous springer fork of the Schwinn Stingray
The famous springer fork of the Schwinn Stingray

The original sissy bar was damaged. Luckily, Craigslist produced someone who was selling a nice chrome one with a new seat.

A new Schwinn seat completes our Schwinn Stingray
A new Schwinn seat completes our Schwinn Stingray

New front and back wheels and tires completed the build. Original parts include the frame, fork, bars, grips, crank, pedals, and seat post.

Original Schwinn grips!
Original Schwinn grips!

This bike will soon be up for grabs on our online store at shop.bikex.org and should help us refubish and donate a handful of bikes to those in need.

Have a bike in your garage that's collecting dust? Consider donating it to SVBE! Learn more here

Enjoy reading about our featured refurbished bicycles? You can read our past Featured Bicycles posts here. Featured bicycles are typically bikes we sell to cover parts for bikes we donate and operating expenses. You can browse our for-sale bikes here: https://shop.bikex.org

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