In the news- Pedal powering Thornbury

A CYCLING shop with a charity spin-off providing bikes for homeless, unemployed and other disadvantaged people opens in Thornbury in December.

Human Powered Cycles proprietor Bill Bretherton said the business' charity side-line was already operating at the East Brunswick workshop and had just given away the 500th bike to an asylum-seeker from Sri Lanka.

"The new business in Thornbury will sponsor the Community Cycles charity work we do and we are hoping people will come in and donate old bikes and parts of bikes," he said.

Mr Bretherton said Human Powered Cycles will be the first cafe/bike shop in Melbourne and was following in the tradition of similar businesses in Europe and America where there was a strong bike culture.

"We'll continue the bicycle theme in the cafe with a pedal-powered blender to make smoothies and juices and other human powered energy-saving devices," he said.

"People can come into the cafe and talk about bike issues with technical staff or get a free cup of tea or coffee while they get their bike serviced."

The shop will specialise in riding for transport rather than racing so Dutch bikes and city touring bikes will be stocked rather than lightweight cycles.

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