A collective for Trans, Women, Intersex, and Gender Nonconforming (TWIG) folks who want to ride bikes, learn mechanics, and build community!

TWIG Wrenching Hours are every month, on the first and third Tuesdays, 6 - 8 pm.

Bring your own bike, we’ll help you fix it!

We meet at the Bicycle Tree to wrench on bikes, and any TWIG person is invited to join us! No prior mechanical experience is necessary: come on by to learn about bikes, to meet people, or to stock up on any bike stuff that you might be needing.

We also have bike rides, classes, and random get-togethers every once in a while.

To stay in the loop, check us out on Instagram @bt.twig or message us at bt_twig@thebicycletree.org.

Generally, TWIG is a collective that is here exclusively for people who fall under the labels of trans, woman, intersex, or gender nonconforming. These labels are meant to be inclusive, but if you find yourself not quite sure if this applies to you, we still welcome you to come join us! We are here to foster an inclusive and diverse community of people who are often underserved by bicycle shops, and we always love meeting new folks who defy what is normal.

Why TWIG?

Trans people of any gender, women, intersex people, and gender nonconforming people are amazing, are beautiful, and should be celebrated.

It’s an unfortunate fact that bike shops have a trend of building a culture that does a very poor job of including all these wonderful members of the communities around them. In many bicycle communities, patriarchy runs strong and cis men have a tendency to take up disproportionate amounts of space. They may even actively push out or intimidate anybody who doesn’t match their expectations of what a person should be. Some even have the misconception that bike shops are spaces just for men to get together.

The Bicycle Tree is not a space just for men.

However, unfortunately, bicycle culture in Orange County has a long way to go before we can say that everybody is being fully and actively included, and so we, as the TWIG collective, are committed to bridging this gap. TWIG is exclusively run by the very people we hope to include, and we are here to push back against the exclusivity and harm that patriarchy has done and continues to do to us every day. This is why this collective offers a bicycle-related space that is exclusively for TWIG people.

It is our goal to empower intimidated and marginalized people in our local community to ride bikes, to repair bikes, and to confidently inhabit the spaces around themselves.

For the non-TWIG allies reading this…

Please take a step back and respect TWIG-designated space!

If you want to help us as an ally, start by giving us this space without argument. We only ask for a few hours of time on one day. It’s not a lot that we have here, and the integrity of the space can be so easily compromised by even those with good intentions.

Respect and empathize with TWIG folks!

Even regular open hours at the Tree have seen both volunteers and visitors alike experiencing disrespect and harassment rooted in gender- and sex-related differences. While TWIG-designated spaces are a good start to addressing this problem, allies can and should assert the basic respect and dignity that are required to make TWIG people feel welcome in the shop as a greater space.

Actively educate yourself, and educate those around you!

Seek out resources and educate yourself on the experiences of marginalized and oppressed people. To be an ally, you must be willing to listen to others and confront beliefs that you may have held your entire life. If you’re not sure where to start, we can recommend the amazing resources lists compiled by both Radical Adventure Riders and Cyclista Zine.