Car too expensive? Bank offers loans for bikes
Unitus works with local shops, frame builders to offer bike loan
Natalie Ramsland, owner of Sweetpea Bicycles, works on a bike frame at her Southeast Portland shop.
Ellen Spitaleri / Clackamas Review
Plenty of Oregonians take out a loan to buy a car. But what if you spend more time in a bike seat than behind the wheel?
One local bank has an answer.
Unitus Community Credit Union recently started issuing bike loans for bicycles ranging from simple commuters to custom-made cycles.
Laurie Kresl, vice president of planning and business development at Unitus, said the idea was hatched after collaboration with the Portland-based Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
“Angela Koch from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance inquired about the idea during a meeting with Unitus. At the time, there was not another financial institution who had adopted this product for the cycling community. Through several months of research, Unitus recognized a real need within our community to create the first-ever bicycle loan,” she explained. “The Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Sellwood Cycle Repair, Seven Corners Cycles and Sweetpea Bicycles were all resources in developing the concept for this program. Unitus has partnered with them, because of their passion for the program and knowledge of the community’s needs.”
To qualify for the bicycle loan program, one must be a member of Unitus and live or work within Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Polk, Marion or Clark counties. Since Unitus is a not-for-profit financial cooperative, a $5 deposit into a prime share account is all it takes to become a member, Kresl noted.
She added, “Depending on the need of the member, this program can provide a family the opportunity to purchase their child a first bicycle, allow mom and dad to get a set of mountain bikes, help students purchase a quality bicycle they can commute to school with every day or the avid cyclist to purchase the custom-built bicycle they’ve been dreaming about. This program can help members to begin building credit if they don’t currently have credit history.”
Clackamas resident first to apply for loan
Clackamas County resident Heather Andrews rides 12 miles every day to her job with the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in downtown Portland. She decided to take advantage of the new bike loan program, because her bike is not the most comfortable to ride, and she had always dreamed of having a custom-built bike from local bicycle builder Natalie Ramsland of Sweetpea Bicycles.
“Since I was already a member of Unitus, all I really had to do was go to the Web site and do the Web application online once the Web site went live. It only took about 10 minutes, and I was instantly approved for $2,500, which is the maximum loan amount, at 7.99 percent, which is the lowest interest rate, and I’ll have a year to pay it off.”
She added, “If I hadn’t gone with a custom-built bike that will cost more than the loan amount, I could also have used the loan at a shop to buy a bike with accessories such as a lock, panniers, lights, etc. And Unitus is constantly trying to expand the network of shops they’re in cahoots with, so if you wanted a bike from a shop that hadn’t heard of the program, they’re very open to establishing that relationship.
“That’s actually why Sweetpea is on board, because I knew I wanted a Sweetpea, called Natalie and Austin to talk to them about it, and they were really excited to participate. As a participating shop, it’s going to make [the] bikes a lot more accessible to more people, which is great for business.”
Bicycles built for women
Ramsland, who builds the bikes, “is one of only a couple of woman builders in North America, and one of a few people who build bikes specifically for women,” Andrews said.
“Every bike is completely custom made, so you are the person who gets to decide what style of bike you get, what components are used, the exact color it will be – everything. The women’s bikes that are on the mass market are mostly just slightly modified men’s bikes – whereas Natalie builds to your exact measurements and physical situation.”
Andrews explained, “For example, the gears I have on my current bike aren’t appropriate for some of the hills I climb, so we’ll be considering different types of chainrings and gear ratios that will be better for me.
The wait list at Sweetpea is about a year, Andrews said, so she made her deposit last May and is looking forward to next May when she can ride the finished product.
She added, “People say, ‘Oh, I can’t afford a bike,’ but with this program you kind of don’t have any more excuses. You can get everything you need, and pay it off over the course of a year, instead of all at once.
“Having a bike is a lot less expensive than a car, a lot less complicated, a lot less detrimental to the environment, but way more fun and better for your health, too.
“Three of my coworkers have either applied for a bike loan, or are planning to very soon. Of those, one of them is also going to be getting a Sweetpea. So this program is also helping the local economy by making bikes that are custom-built in Portland more accessible.”