Cyclist
Building a community: BabyLDN and the Community Bike Shop
Tucked away at the garage level of a 1960s housing block in Camberwell, southeast London, is a hand-painted sign that reads ‘Community Bike Shop’. It’s Saturday morning and the place is buzzing.
Owner Marlon Plein is busy tidying up in preparation for Cyclist’s visit, meaning his girlfriend Lauren can’t now find the parts she needs for a bike she’s fixing up. Volunteer Jeff wheels in, slings his bike down by the entrance and heads off to make a round of teas. Bang on 12pm, local kid Yayah comes hurtling down the slope on his Mafia bike before pulling a wheelie.
‘He’s been coming pretty much every weekend for two years, learning mechanics and various tricks, so we said, “OK let’s get him a new bike,”’ Plein says.
‘We set up a little Crowdfunder on Instagram and overnight we got all the money we needed, so last Saturday we gave it to him. It’s a proper wheelie bike par excellence with all the bells and whistles.’
Plein, who also runs BabyLDN where he builds custom bikes from second-hand parts, describes this place as a resource for the locals.
‘I like the idea of it being a third space where people can come and build their own bikes. We do workshops every Saturday, so kids come and maybe get a free bike, new tyres or an upgrade – or they learn how to do something with their bike.’
The suggested minimum donation to tinker with your bike is just £5, but Plein will waive that if it’s unaffordable. He’s able to do that – and help young people like Yayah get a bike – partly thanks to subsidised rent and rates, but also due to the loyal following he has built up.
‘It’s circular. I might make a £2,000 bike for someone but then that trickles down. It’s beautiful.’
It’s also a donation hub. While Cyclist is there, someone drops off two carrier bags full of bike parts – seatposts, derailleurs, shoes – followed shortly after by someone else arriving to ask for a threaded one-inch fork for his road bike. Volunteers trickle in, kids arrive, passers-by pop in to ask what the deal is. It’s a self-sustaining ecosystem of bike enthusiasts.
The Grand Depart
A series of twists led Plein to this point. He was made redundant from his job in hospitality and turned to couriering.
‘I thought I was done with London. I decided to go to Berlin but I had no spare cash. Some friends were doing deliveries so I decided to try that to earn some money, then leave.’
He bought a single speed Fuji for £100 on eBay and an obsession was sparked.
‘Scouting for the “perfect” bike drove me down a long tunnel that I’ve never recovered from,’ he says. ‘Getting a bike changed me. I got fitter, I got to learn the city, to meet new people.’
Plein then got into mechanics, determined to ‘reanimate’ discarded bikes. He found ‘old clunkers’ everywhere from car boot sales to Ebay, bought a garden shed and converted it into a workshop. A couple of sales in, he launched his Instagram page and now he has eyes everywhere.
‘Every day I get about five DMs saying, “Hey, I think you might like this”, “I’ve got this to donate” or “This is going really cheap”. My neighbour recently found a Muddy Fox Streetfinder on the street and we’re just building it up. Things like that happen all the time.’
Fair competition
Plein will tune up a bike from £150 and build a custom rat bike for £300.
‘The fact that I’ve got so many spare parts – many of which came to me free – means I’m able to do a wide price range,’ he says. ‘£300 is my base and usually that means most of the things on it are repurposed – bespoke doesn’t have to be elitist. This way of working means that sometimes it takes me ages to build a bike, but I love what interesting, older things give to a build.’
Some of the requests Plein gets can be outlandish, but he’s not one to say no.
‘I like the challenge of satisfying that request. I say yes to most things because it expands my knowledge, aesthetically and mechanically. I do sometimes have to say no to kids, though, because they come with the most ludicrous suggestions.’
Right on cue, a young customer rolls in asking Plein to spray his rims green.
‘You can’t do that because you need to be able to brake,’ he explains patiently. Finally, they agree on coloured pedals.
Over the course of the day, more people come and go, dropping off or looking for parts, asking advice or tinkering with their personal projects, or just wanting to hang out. As the name suggests, this is a bike shop that serves a community, but also one that has created a community. And for Plein it is a means of introducing young people to the magic of the bicycle.
‘I don’t think there’s another vehicle that can give you the peace and freedom in the city that a bike can,’ he says. ‘You’re able to pace your movement at your own will. You won’t be stuck with the tempo of the bus or the train or stuck with all the moody people on their phones. You can take it slow or you can ride fast. It’s the beacon of freedom in a city where most other things are bureaucratic or expensive.’
Find out more at babyldn.com
Customer creations: Sam’s flame-grilled fixie
‘I saw this fixed gear bike on Gumtree and had to have it. The look came about because there was a stuck seatpost in the frame and when Marlon used a blowtorch to loosen it, the paint melted away and he realised it was chrome underneath, not steel. He stripped all the paint off with the blowtorch and it left these beautiful pearlescent scorched markings, so he just put clear coat lacquer over the top. I’ve not seen anything else like it.’
Customer creations: Tom’s comfy cruiser
‘This frame is a Diamondback Apex from 1994. It has some custom parts, such as the SSB bars, a Brooks seat and Curana mudguards. And there’s the new decal on, which I designed myself. It’s all these personal touches that make it my bike. It’s a super commuter and very comfy pub crawler. People who are into bikes look, then take a second look.’
Customer creations: Lee’s recycled racer
‘It’s an old 1990s racing frame. I really wanted the flat bar, a tray on the front and big gearing so I can go up any hill. We rescued and reused the stem, derailleurs and the seat from my old bike, which is basically moulded to my backside. I love the Mavic Aksium wheels; Marlon has scratched all the decals off, so they’re silver, which looks cool. You couldn’t get any bigger tyres on it, because I wanted them to be a comfortable ride, soft and bouncy.’
The post Building a community: BabyLDN and the Community Bike Shop appeared first on Cyclist.