Stopping power matters! Join us for a hands-on community workshop all about bike brakes.  We'll be covering the different types, how they work, routine upkeep, and simple adjustments to keep your ride safe and smooth. Whether you’re new to bike maintenance or just want a refresher, this session will boost your confidence and your braking power.

No experience needed. Bring your curiosity (and your bike if you’d like)! 

This class is FREE to the community. If you would like to make a donation to Chain Reaction for attending the class, we’d suggest a $10 donation.

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

Interested in volunteering?  Want to learn more and take a tour of the shop?  Join our New Volunteer Orientation.  We’ll be covering all the ins and outs of volunteering at the shop, including the signup and scheduling process, shop roles, activities, workflow, and our community.

If you’d like to become a volunteer at Chain Reaction, check out the volunteer link in our bio and RSVP by emailing us at crbh.volunteer@gmail.com .

Are you cold-weather curious about biking? Maybe you dabble in cooler weather riding, are interested in trying out a few longer rides or one of the many local fat bike races? (Yes, like the upcoming Lake MacBride Fat Tire Classic or Davenport’s Frozen Fat Fondo Fest!).

Join Linn Area Mountain Bike Association (LAMBA) and Chain Reaction Bike Hub for tips on how to extend your cold-weather riding or try cold-weather racing in this hands on workshop. One of LAMBA’s seasoned winter racers will share some tips and lessons learned on the following:
✅ Ride preparation
✅ Riding safety on snowy / slick surfaces
✅ Cold-weather clothing for all different temperatures and rides
✅ Food/hydration tips
✅ Q&A

Bring your own bike or clothing layers if you have questions. We’ll cover the necessary tools and techniques to keep you rolling!

This class is FREE to the community. If you would like to donate to LAMBA or Chain Reaction for attending the class, we’d suggest a $10 donation.

Any questions, please reach out to us at CRBH.Volunteer@gmail.com

1/20/26: One of our 2026 goals is to retail additional components. Join us for this enhanced volunteer night where we’ll discuss “what makes a good component”, and then help us sort component inventory that we’ll move to the retail space. (Use your imagination - this includes major components from brakes to seat posts.

—-

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

Interested in volunteering?  Want to learn more and take a tour of the shop?  Join our New Volunteer Orientation.  We’ll be covering all the ins and outs of volunteering at the shop, including the signup and scheduling process, shop roles, activities, workflow, and our community.

If you’d like to become a volunteer at Chain Reaction, check out the volunteer link in our bio and RSVP by emailing us at crbh.volunteer@gmail.com .

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night! Our “reorg” happened a week early last week, tonight’s just a regular volunteer night. Who knows what fun awaits?!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

FTWN (femme/trans/women/nonbinary) Shop Eve. It's cold outside, let's hang out with some bike folks and work on some bike-ish projects.

Have a bike problem to solve, or want some company solving? Bring it in. It’s a safe space to ask questions, try out things, or tear apart scrap bikes to learn. Bonus - we have tools that are free for you to use.

CRBH has some no longer usable bike parts that may be your next art project. Cassette wind chime? Inner tube earrings? Maybe you want to just hang out with other FTWN folks and talk bikes.

Bring some snacks to share as you like. We'll provide bike parts to tear down or craft up and tools. Dress warm and like you might get a little messy!

This evening is FREE to the community.

Any questions, please reach out to us at CRBH.Volunteer@gmail.com

Sorry fellas, this event is limited to femme/trans/women/nb volunteers and participants.

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

Volunteer Nights are a chance to roll up your sleeves, learn something new, and be part of the magic that keeps bikes moving in our community. Whether you’re brand new to bike repair or a seasoned wrench, there’s a place for you here.

Possible volunteer activities include:

• Refurbishing donated bikes for community programs

• Fixing flats and replacing tubes

• Scrapping bikes to be recycled

• Cleaning bikes

• Sorting, organizing, and tagging donated parts

• Prepping bikes for kids’ bike drives and free bike programs

• Assisting with special shop projects as needed

You’ll be guided by experienced volunteers and staff, so no prior bike knowledge is required.

Come for an hour or stay for the evening! Every bit of help makes a difference. Volunteer Nights are equal parts hands-on learning, teamwork, and good conversation, all in support of making bikes more accessible and sustainable in Cedar Rapids.

We can’t wait to work alongside you! 💛🚲

Interested in volunteering?  Want to learn more and take a tour of the shop?  Join our New Volunteer Orientation.  We’ll be covering all the ins and outs of volunteering at the shop, including the signup and scheduling process, shop roles, activities, workflow, and our community.

If you’d like to become a volunteer at Chain Reaction, check out the volunteer link in our bio and RSVP by emailing us at crbh.volunteer@gmail.com .

Volunteer Nights are a chance to roll up your sleeves, learn something new, and be part of the magic that keeps bikes moving in our community. Whether you’re brand new to bike repair or a seasoned wrench, there’s a place for you here.

Possible volunteer activities include:

• Refurbishing donated bikes for community programs

• Fixing flats and replacing tubes

• Scrapping bikes to be recycled

• Cleaning bikes

• Sorting, organizing, and tagging donated parts

• Prepping bikes for kids’ bike drives and free bike programs

• Assisting with special shop projects as needed

You’ll be guided by experienced volunteers and staff, so no prior bike knowledge is required.

Come for an hour or stay for the evening! Every bit of help makes a difference. Volunteer Nights are equal parts hands-on learning, teamwork, and good conversation, all in support of making bikes more accessible and sustainable in Cedar Rapids.

We can’t wait to work alongside you! 💛🚲

3rd Annual Kids’ Bike Drive & Holiday Party at Chain Reaction!

Request a Free Kids’ Bike

See Official Press Release

🛠️ Fix Bikes for Kids: Help us refurbish bikes for children in need! No experience needed. We’ll guide you every step of the way. This year, we’re adding a community workshop for those who want to learn and lend a hand with kids’ bike maintenance.

🎄 Holiday Party Fun: Celebrate the season with festive vibes, music, and plenty of holiday cheer!

🍽️ Potluck Style: Bring your favorite dish or snack to share with the group.

🚲 Giving Back: All refurbished kids’ bikes will be donated to local families and organizations supporting families in our community.

📅 Date: Sunday, December 14th
⏰ Time: 10am – 4pm (or until all the bikes are ready!)
📍 Location: 1010 3rd Ave SW, Cedar Rapids, IA

✨ Bring your tools, your appetite, and your holiday spirit! Together, we’ll fix up bikes and brighten the holidays for local kids.

🎉🎉🎉 Got kids’ bikes to donate? Drop off any new or gently used, quality kids bike (12”-26”), at the Chain Reaction shop at 1010 3rd Ave. SW during our normal hours of operation and our volunteers can assist you. 🎉🎉🎉

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

FTWN (femme/trans/women/nonbinary) Bike Craft Night! It's cold outside, let's get crafty.

CRBH has some no longer usable bike parts that may be your next art project! Chain tree stars? Cassette wind chime? Inner tube earrings? Maybe you want to just hang out with other FTWN folks and talk bikes. Or maybe you have a knitting project that's not quite finished (!). Also, if you don't have space for it, CRBH would love some secular decorations for the season!

Bring some snacks and art supplies to share as you like and your creativity. We'll provide the bike parts (that will likely need disassembled or degreased). Dress warm and like you might get a little messy!

This event is FREE to the community.

*** You also are welcome to bring your own bike and use shop tools, or just come hang out with other FTWN folks in good company! ***

Any questions, please reach out to us at CRBH.Volunteer@gmail.com

Sorry fellas, this event is limited to femme/trans/women/nb volunteers and participants.

🛠️ Kids’ Bike Drive Basics: Learn & Give Back!

Join Chain Reaction Bike Hub for a hands-on community workshop where volunteers will learn how to assess, repair, and tune up kids’ bikes in preparation for our 3rd Annual Kids Bike Drive! No experience necessary. Our team will guide you through the basics of bike maintenance, from fixing flats to adjusting brakes and gears.

Come ready to learn, lend a hand, and help us get more bikes rolling into the hands of kids this holiday season!

📅 Date & Time: Wednesday, December 3, 6 PM - 8 PM.
📍 Location: Chain Reaction Bike Hub, 1010 3rd Ave SW, Cedar Rapids

***If you would like to donate a new or gently used, quality kids’ bike (12”-26”), drop by the Chain Reaction shop at 1010 3rd Ave. SW during our normal hours of operation, and our volunteers can assist you. ***

Interested in volunteering?  Want to learn more and take a tour of the shop?  Join our New Volunteer Orientation.  We’ll be covering all the ins and outs of volunteering at the shop, including the signup and scheduling process, shop roles, activities, workflow, and our community.

If you’d like to become a volunteer at Chain Reaction, check out the volunteer link in our bio and RSVP by emailing us at crbh.volunteer@gmail.com .

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

FTWN (femme/trans/women/nonbinary) Community Eve at the hub. Would you like to get more confident working on a bike? Ever wonder how shifting works, or where all those cables in your bike actually go? Join us on Monday, Nov 24, for an FTWN night at the hub for some snacks and hands-on learning by tearing apart.

We’ll open the hub at 5:30pm to share some snacks and catch-up time. Around 6pm, we’ll lead a hands-on slow bike disassembly on some of our salvage bikes - discussing bike anatomy components and function. Step 1 of fixing a bike is knowing what’s what!

Let us know you’re coming (if you want to tear down a bike) so we have enough salvage bikes reserved. Dress like you’re going to get greasy. Come with questions. Bring a snack to share if you want.

This event is FREE to the community.

*** You also are welcome to bring your own bike and use shop tools, or just come hang out with other FTWN folks in good company! ***

Any questions, please reach out to us at CRBH.Volunteer@gmail.com

Sorry fellas, this event is limited to femme/trans/women/nb volunteers and participants.

Tired of flats? Curious about what all the tubeless tire hype is about? Join us at Chain Reaction Bike Hub for a hands-on Tubeless Tire Workshop where we’ll cover everything you need to know to keep your ride rolling smooth and puncture-free!
Learn how to:
- Convert your wheel/tire setup to tubeless
- Add sealant and seat your tires properly
- Maintain your setup and fix common issues

Whether you’re new to tubeless or just looking to fine-tune your setup, this workshop will give you the confidence (and sealant skills) you need!

Space is limited to 20 participants, so get registered!

This class is FREE to the community. If you would like to make a donation to Chain Reaction for attending the class, we’d suggest a $10 donation.

Join the Cedar Rapids cycling community for Goldfinch Cyclery’s 9th Annual Cranksgiving! Chain Reaction is excited to, once again, be one of this year’s ride stops!

In case you’re not familiar:

Cranksgiving is a food drive on two wheels with many purposes: part bike ride, part food drive, and part scavenger hunt. It's been held annually in New York City since 1999. Every year, throughout the country, Cranksgiving events help provide thousands of needy families with a wealth of food during the holiday season. For the 9th year running, we're including Cedar Rapids in this national movement!

Pump up your tires, grab your helmet, lights, lock, your navigational skills, and $20-$40* to purchase everything on our grocery list (*depending on how many grocery stops you make).

Registration/check-in starts in the NewBo City Market at 11 am with some caffeinated essentials from our friends, Roasters NewBo. We invite you to support the local flavor and grab some breakfast from one of the many great NewBo Market Shopkeepers.

***Come early for PRE-RIDE YOGA w/ Emily Qual! at 10am***

At check-in you'll sign our waiver in exchange for our 'manifest' with a list of food items to buy from specific grocery stores around town, and time before the official start to strategize your route. At noon we'll roll out and it's up to you to navigate yourself to each grocery store 'checkpoint' to purchase the specific food items on our list. Once you've acquired everything on the list you must deliver the goods to the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and make it back down to the NewBo neighborhood for our After Party at the Olympic Southside Theatre from 4-7pm.

***NEW THIS YEAR! :: Bring your own shirt, cloth, kerchief, or other printable material (at least 12"x12") with you the morning of registration, and we'll print the official Cranksgiving CR logo to commemorate the day and memorialize an awesome day spent uplifting the community.

Every receipt you collect from the grocery stops on our manifest earns you a raffle ticket to enter for a chance to take home some RAD prizes from our favorite neighborhood businesses and bike industry friends! *RAFFLE called at 5:30pm**gotta be present!* Beverages available from our friends at Olypmic, Tibbs is making us popcorn, and the good folks from Aromas Pizza and Pupusa will be setup out front all night. YUM!

The Loaves & Fishes is a food pantry is a community resource in partnership with Westminster Presbyterian Church and Christ Episcopal Church. Their guiding principles are to treat everyone with respect and offer as much choice and dignity as possible. Every Tuesday from 2:30 to 5 pm, between 100-200 people come to the pantry for a box of food organized and distributed by volunteers. In turn, that food reaches about 1,500 individuals each month.

Visit the Loaves & Fishes website (https://www.crwpc.org/loaves-and-fishes) for more information about Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry and how you can continue to contribute to this invaluable resource.

EVENT DETAILS

Meet at NewBo City Market

Check in: 11:00 - 11:45am

Ride Kick-off Announcement - 12:00pm

Ride!

Drop off donations - Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry

After Party at Olympic South Side Theater: 4:00pm - 7:00pm

Contact Logan or Lillian at Goldfinch Cyclery with any questions // (319) 775-0203 or INFO@GOLDFINCHCYCLERY.COM

Are you ready to ride your bike to school or work as the temperature drops? Let’s learn some cold weather riding basics!

In this hands-on workshop we’ll work through the basics of cold weather riding.

We’ll cover:
✅ Cold weather clothing
✅ Bike gear and modifications
✅ Riding basics on snowy or slick surfaces
✅ Q&A

We highly encourage you to bring your own bike so you’re able to learn the techniques and tips on your personal rig. We’ve got plenty of bikes to practice on in case you need to borrow one. We’ll cover the necessary tools and techniques to keep you rolling!

Space is limited to 20 participants, so register here!

This class is FREE to the community. If you would like to donate to Chain Reaction for attending the class, we’d suggest a $10 donation.

Any questions, please reach out to us at CRBH.Volunteer@gmail.com

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!

Bonus fall community ride! See Facebook for event details - departing 5:30, and departure location to be confirmed in our Facebook event.

This is a no-drop, community ride. Grab your helmet, water, lights, and let's roll!

FTWN (femme/trans/women/nonbinary) group ride in the city. We'll meet at Chain Reaction Bike Hub (1010 3rd Ave SW) at 5:00pm, and do a quick ride prep and safety check. We'll roll out around 5:15pm, and do a 6-7 mile loop around the city. This is no-drop community ride - ensuring that nobody gets left behind.

Our route will include:
- separate bike lanes
- roads without bike lanes
- multi-use trail
- how to handle different types of intersections

If you have a bike - bring it! If you don’t have a bike, let us know so that you can borrow one from the hub.

Please bring your helmet, water bottle and lights. (Again, if you don't have them - we'll get some you can borrow from the hub!)

Come back to the shop afterwards - we might have snacks!

Register here if you need to borrow a bike - or just show up and join!

This ride is FREE to the community.

Any questions, please reach out to us at CRBH.Volunteer@gmail.com

Sorry fellas, this event is limited to femme/trans/women/nb volunteers and participants.

Interested in volunteering?  Want to learn more and take a tour of the shop?  Join our New Volunteer Orientation.  We’ll be covering all the ins and outs of volunteering at the shop, including the signup and scheduling process, shop roles, activities and workflow, and if you’re interested, how to quickly assess donated bikes and bike parts.  

If you’d like to become a volunteer at Chain Reaction, check out the volunteer link in our bio and RSVP by emailing us at crbh.volunteer@gmail.com .

Looking for a fun and meaningful way to give back to the community? Join us for volunteer night!

Whether you're a seasoned bike mechanic or just someone who loves bikes and wants to help out, we welcome you to come and lend a hand.

Generally, on volunteer nights we have a few projects volunteers can work on:

• Take apart bikes and salvage some components for reuse

• Assess, clean, and fix up bikes

• Organize the shop and help with cleaning tasks

• Help plan and prepare for upcoming events, like the Bike Swap on March 29th or our Volunteer Appreciation Party in May!

• Special opportunities like delivering bikes to our partners or helping community outreach

• Learn about bikes and Chain Reaction while enjoying good company
  
  

  No experience or RSVP is necessary!