The adventure starts
around the corner
Since 2019, we have been advising, repairing and riding in Brussels. Three shops, Schuman, Madou and Volontaires, a team from very different backgrounds, and one shared wish: to make you love the city by bike. Here is how it all began.
When I take care of people’s bikes, it’s not really the machine I’m taking care of.
Before the morning
Jean-Philippe has ridden since he was a teenager, to breathe. Bike courier at 21, then Pro Vélo, GRACQ, sociology, and eight years running the Cyclo workshop at Brussels Central station.
201825 October
A name found in thirty minutes
Morning is the day breaking as you get back on the bike after a night in the forest. Toma draws the sun after the sign of a 1928 café on Rue Le Titien. It is also a wheel that doesn’t quite turn round, just like Brussels.
20191 April
On the corner of Rue Le Titien
Our first shop, in the street where Jean-Philippe’s mother grew up. We give the building back its original shop windows and doors. Bastien and Carmine are the first colleagues.
20202020 – 2021
A team takes shape
Lila de Krahe arrives as the paperwork overflows. Pascal Govaerts leaves thirty years in another job for bike mechanics. Both become pillars of the company.
2021
A detour through Wallonia
Namur opens in November 2021, Louvain-la-Neuve in spring 2022. In 2025, both shops go their own way. We put everything into Brussels.
202217 September
The smallest shop in the capital
Madou opens in Saint-Josse with Pascal, still a trainee and already in charge of the workshop.
20222 October
The first Gravel Rides
A first gravel ride sets off from the shop. Since then, we ride together every season, with a food stop on the way and drinks at the finish.
2023
The Atelier, behind the scenes
On Chaussée de Louvain in Schaerbeek, we fit out the Atelier, away from the shop windows.
20264 September
More willing than ever
Our third shop, on Avenue des Volontaires in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.
Tomorrow
The best years of cycling are ahead of us
Five times more cyclists in Brussels in fifteen years, and this is only the start. What comes next starts with families, then with children on their own bikes. And we want to open the trade to women mechanics.
Why bikes?
Deep down, nothing has really changed since I was five: my bike is my freedom.
Pascal GovaertsBelgian BMX champion in 1981 
Mechanical work brings the satisfaction of a job finished, a job well done, a job done with your hands.
David GillisSix months by bike to Greece 
A way of travelling that reminds us we can go as far as our legs will carry us.
Alexandre NicaiseCame to mechanics to be self-reliant 
I don’t know what gets into me, I tell myself: I want to know how this thing works.
Julien FaureFrom a cellar to a neighbourhood workshop
When you ride a bike, you change the world. One pedal stroke at a time.
A team from elsewhere
Many of us don’t come from bike mechanics: sociology, social work, photography, or thirty years in another job. This diversity comes from the social integration economy, where Jean-Philippe learnt the trade. Since 2018, about 120 people, employees and trainees, have worked with us. Several have become shareholders.
A huge thank you
- Alexandre
- Alice
- Annelien
- Antoine
- Arthur
- Augustin
- Axel
- Baptiste
- Bastien
- Benoit
- Billy
- Carmine
- Clarisse
- Corentin
- Corto
- Cristella
- Cyril
- David
- Denis
- Elie
- Erwin
- Ethan
- Etienne
- François
- Frédéric
- Gregory
- Guillaume
- Hubert
- Inès
- Jessica
- Julien
- Laura
- Laurent
- Lila
- Lionel
- Magali
- Maggie
- Manuel
- Marguerite
- Marie-Amélie
- Marie-Sophie
- Maulde
- Nathan
- Nicolas
- Noa
- Noé
- Olivia
- Olivier
- Pascal
- Paul
- Pauline
- Philippe
- Pierre
- Pierre-Antoine
- Pierre-Yves
- Rik
- Rohan
- Roman
- Sacha
- Sascha
- Sidney
- Simon
- Stéphane
- Steven
- Sylvain
- Tanguy
- Thibault
- Thomas
- Toma
- Ulysse
- Valentin
- Vinciane
- Wim
- Wouter
- Yoann
- Yonas
And to everyone who has crossed our path.
Our two missions
Changing society through cycling
Cycling changes the city, our health and our lives: we want everyone to be able to get on a bike.
Creating meaningful craft jobs
Fair pay, a say in decisions, room to grow, high technical standards.
Our values
- Transparency
- Honest craftsmanship
- Social commitment
- Passion for the environment
- International friendship
- Sharing rather than competing
