Holiday cheer has been rolling in on two wheels for keiki of Maui, Molokaʻi and Lanaʻi.
Maui bike shop Krank Cycles has assembled and distributed about 500 bikes this year.
They're purchased and donated by Jim Falk, president of car dealership Jim Falk Motors of Maui.
“He's the money, I’m the muscle,” laughed Krank Cycles owner Aaron Reichert, also known as “Moose.”
“They approached me, and we've built this program, and it's went from like 85 bikes to close to 4-to-500 every year for the last probably like five or six years,” he continued.
Reichert gathers community members, bike mechanics, and partner businesses to assemble the brand-new bikes and distribute them to kids in need.
After volunteers put the bikes together, mechanics like Mark Fiddelke inspect and fine-tune them.
“Making sure the brakes work, making sure everything is tight and safe,” explained Fiddelke, as he used a wrench to tighten the wheels and adjust the handlebars.
The team wrapped up their season of giving with a recent trip to Moloka’i. A small crew of mechanics and about 50 bikes arrived by boat. They were assembled at the Kaunakakai Fire Station by firefighters, a couple dozen volunteers from Bayer, members of the Moloka’i High School basketball team, and the island's own bike shop.
On Maui, the Jim Falk Kids Christmas Bike Builds are a massive effort, drawing hundreds of volunteers over the past month.
“Everybody from every walk of life — rich, poor, young, old — they come with tools, they come with no knowledge whatsoever, they’re slapping bikes together and we’re doing the final touchups on them but everybody wants to get involved,” said Krank Cycles mechanic Aaron Lisco, who also goes by “Double A.”
Along with the bike business at its three Maui locations, Krank Cycles does a lot in the community.
Reichert used to live in Lahaina for over a decade. So immediately after the 2023 wildfires, he wanted to help, but wasn't sure how.
“I stopped the truck and I'm like, 'What are you gonna do?' And then just hit me. It was like, 'Put people on bikes.' I was like, ‘Are you crazy? Put people on bikes after a fire?’ And unbeknownst to me, it was the thing a lot of kids needed.”
He organized a massive bike donation.
“Watching these kids bounce around on the bikes and just not worrying about not having a house or a neighborhood,” he said. “It was pretty special.”
A Maui resident for nearly three decades, Reichert founded Krank almost 14 years ago with just a credit card, and it's grown from there.
He's also spearheaded the development of community bike trails.
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Reichert said bikes have been a critical part of his life.
“I had a rough childhood, and the home was violent,” he said. “As a kid, I just wanted to escape the house. And then somebody gave me a bike. And as soon as I learned how to ride that bike, it was instant freedom.”
He described the feeling as magic.
“So to be able to give that to somebody else, especially a kid, you know, and give them what I was given is special to me,” he said. “It's just really special.”
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