In the repair shop of Vieux biclou, in Montpellier – N. Bonzom / Maxele Presse
- Le Vieux biclou has become, since its creation fifteen years ago, one of the most important associations for cycling in Montpellier.
- The association offers cyclists to help each other repair their bicycles, but also saddle lessons for adults.
- The association’s expertise is recognized and communities are asking it for the implementation of a bicycle plan.
In the workshop of Old biclou, at the Beaux-Arts, brake cables and inner tubes were replaced, warped wheels and broken spokes were repaired, and chains were lubricated. This association, which serves a good number of cyclists, has become, in fifteen years, an important cog in the practice of cycling, in Montpellier (Hérault). “It is not only important, it is essential”, confides Nicolas le Moigne, the president of the association.
Velocity, which defends cyclists in Montpellier.
And in particular, he continues, because one of his objectives, “is to make people autonomous with their bicycles”, “cycling”. Through participatory repair workshops, where everyone helps each other to put the bicycles back on wheels, activities for the youngest, or re-saddle lessons, to give adults back the taste of the Little Queen. Originally, the Vieux biclou was designed by two friends, who helped out here and there to repair bikes. “They said to themselves that it would be nice to have a place, especially to pool tools, because it is expensive,” says Maud le Hay, the president of the association.
The “Allen key phobia” overcome
They opened a first workshop, a few months later, near the station. Then they moved to the Beaux-Arts, today the headquarters of the association. A second workshop will open a few years later on the campus of the science faculty. Today, the Vieux biclou, which also repairs and resells second-hand bicycles, has some 800 members, including a third of students, a third of retirees, but also workers, who use their bicycles to get to work. .
Barbara is one of them. This very active volunteer, who believes in “the importance of recovering and reusing materials”, has overcome, thanks to the repair shops, her “phobia of the Allen key”, she confides. “I was completely zero, and I thought I was unable to learn anything, recalls this cyclist. In two years, I was able to acquire the simplest basics, I am very proud of it. I do not let go: I learn, at my own pace, while informing the people who arrive. “
“All on an equal footing”
“There are a lot of people, often women, who come to the office saying that they will never achieve anything, although they have often never tried”, underlines Maud le Hay. At Vieux Biclou, assures the president of the association, “you will always find someone who has already encountered the problem you are having on your bike. It is often, moreover, retirees, who pass on their knowledge. “
In Montpellier, the association has acquired such expertise that it is solicited by communities who wish to work on cycling. “When we want to create a cycling plan, we tend to limit it to infrastructure. In reality, there are also services, which are very important. Make sure that once people are on a bicycle, they are trained to feel safe and able to maintain it. “
There is also, at the Vieux biclou, a real social issue. We also come to get to know each other. “I admit that what I like the most is chatting,” Barbara smiles. “The theme of cycling is also a pretext for meeting people,” notes Maud le Hay. We meet an engineer, a student of literature, a homeless man. We are all dressed dirty, to fix our bikes. All on an equal footing. “
This weekend, the Vieux biclou is organizing a large bicycle exchange on the Esplanade de la Musique at the Beaux-Arts. All of the information here.