This is more than “we’re back” so is the updated version of the Sustainable Living Festival. That means we very pleased to be able to bring back the great HBK Bike Auction in 2025 as part of Sustainable Living Tasmania’s Big Day of Circular Living Ideas
We’ll be at CCC on Saturday 22nd March ready to talk bike recycling and the new site, and basically anything we can help you with.
It also means you’ll have the once-a-year chance to grab a sweet ride at the Hobart Bike Kitchen bikes auction and get a quality bike for a great price.
I’ve said it before but it’s not a win-win, it’s a win-win-win as you get a great bike, the world is a better place with one more happy, healthy, low-emission bike rider and Hobart Bike Kitchen raises the money which keeps us open throughout the year.
The auction will be at 12:45 outside. I’m sure you’ll be able to hear/find us
If you can’t be sure of being on site at the right time we’re happy to take your bids beforehand. You can email us or come by the HBK marquee and have a good look at the bikes and leave your bid with us then.
So here’s a list of the bikes.
Auction Day
There’s going to be something for everyone in our 5 super bikes list
First Bike
First bike by name and by design.
This is the ideal way to introduce your little one to riding as a balance bike gives them the feel of flow on a bike, and you never have to through the training wheels stage.
There’s plenty of information on the First Bike site, and you’ll see the brake version is a $260 bike, and you’re getting the lowering kit as well. Come and grab a beautiful bike bargain.
Primary School
This is something special, a HBK Dad’s project bike that is the best set of two wheels a young rider could ask for.
Here’s the story
“I bought it myself and hack jobbed it with lightest-of-the-best-box-bits from a singlespeed race-track BMX into a fully functional 7 speed kids first mountain bike.
To look at this is all just wrong, but to ride it, oh its so right!
7 speeds (XT derailleur and custom modded XT 9s cassette), great brakes, nice grips, tight handling and mini knobblies, it absolutely shreds the local commuter tracks and still let my kid ride up the hill again after school. Has done several trips to Derby for the green loops. Weighs 9.4kg which is lots for a road bike but nothing compared to what most kids are forced to lug around.
Then it got stolen.
And amazingly, recovered 4 years later.
Somehow it was spotted by an eagle-eyed bike loving cop who saw it and said to themselves “now THAT is a bike produced by a bike loving home-workshopper” during an unrelated crime bust. By then however the kids had grown, and the fleet had developed, so it was left to languish in our bike stash at home.
However, I recently pulled it out again and cleaned it up for a glorious week on Maria Island where it shone as my campground bike of choice and proved not only its own awesomeness but also made me realise that it deserves a proper new bike loving family of its own, where it can once again be ridden daily by a grinning kid and occasionally maintained lovingly by a geeky bike parent…”
Teenager can travel
Why are Dutch teenagers amongst the happiest in the world?
Link 1 , Link 2
To quote the 2nd article “It’s all that biking 🚲”
OK, we’re not the Netherlands we see today. But nor were they in the ’70s, and it has been a lot of learning and societal change to get them where they are today.
However, what is clear is that enabling teenagers to develop independence, self-reliance and the ability to assess risk improves their mental health.
One of the easiest ways to enable those learnings is getting out on a bike.
Exercise, better mental health AND you don’t have to run them to school or every after school activity. Why have you not got them a bike already?
Here’s a great teenager’s bike. The Merida Matts 6.5 grip shift 3×7 gears on a aluminium frame means they’ll cope with Hobart’s hills.
Also has plenty of mounts when they want to add panniers to carry extra gear.
It’s a 20″ frame best sized for someone 165-180 cm.
You can see the current model at 99 Bikes, but I prefer the flat top tube.
Mum’s not forgotten
One of the great things about cycling is that it is for everyone.
Of course, Mum might prefer the carbon roadie or a shredding MTB but there’s still space for an easy riding casual bike to roll to the local shop or head out with the kids.
This Giant Elwood SE has an upright setup with an adjustable stem and wider seat to ensure you’re comfortable. With wide 3×7 gearing and 700×30 tyres for excellent handling (like all the cool kids) you’ll be leaving the car at home and getting the bike out any chance you have.
Super Commuter
Does Dad need to get out a bit more, would the commute to work be a way to get some exercise in his day?
I can vouch for the benefits of 20mins of exercise each morning and afternoon. How many days a week is up to you, but exercise, fresh air and some downtime between work and home is good for the soul.
This Diamondback Axis Sport MTB will make any commute a pleasure, and of course is ready for the weekends with front suspension and plenty of tyre width.
Hobart Bike Kitchen 