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An old bike shelter in Upham's Corner could be reborn as a bike shop and cafe, if people are willing to throw a buck or two in the founder's direction, according to Universal Hub. Sip & Spoke Bike Kitchen is the brainchild of Noah Hicks, a Boston native, avid cyclist, and the man behind the Bowdoin Bike School, a community teaching shop in Dorchester.
The plans for Sip & Spoke include retail sales for new and refurbished bikes, plus components and accessories. The shop will also have maintenance and repair services alongside the business of the cafe, which will serve coffee and foods sourced from local vendors.
The goal for the shop is to "source local products, hire homegrown baristas and bicycle technicians, and support the local biking culture in an area of the city where many rely on the bike as an affordable means of transportation that is faster than walking and cheaper than a car," according to the Sip & Spoke website.
Hicks has set up an Indiegogo page to fundraise money to open the shop in Dorchester, cohabiting with the Bowdoin Bike School in the Upham's Corner Comfort Station, which was built in 1912. He is working with Historic Boston Incorporated to preserve the architecture of the space. Hicks has a fundraising goal of $50,000 and hopes to open by spring 2017.
