Local Spotlight: Fabian Cruz

Bicycles are central to Fabian Cruz’s life.

It all started when he was 13. Andy Greif, then director of the Community Bike Center (now Apex Youth Connection) came to his math class and talked about a program that mentored youth and taught them bicycle repair skills.

“I blew him off at first because I just wanted to stay home and play video games,” said Cruz, who lives in Biddeford.

He wasn’t really interested in bicycles at the time, but curiosity got the best of him, and he decided to check out the program. He found that he not only enjoyed bicycle riding, but was really good at fixing them too.

“There's nothing quite like bringing an old bike back to life, preserving its legacy, and witnessing it cruise down the streets as if it were new,” he said.

Bicycling became his passion, and the mentee has become the mentor.

“Now I teach kids how to fix bikes,” he said.

Cruz, now 21 and a student at Southern Maine Community College, is a Program Mentor at Apex Youth Connection at 45 Granite St. in Biddeford, working with adolescents and teens to spark interest in bicycling and teach them skills.

“Ever since I’ve been coming here, biking has been my whole life,” he said.

He rides about 20 miles a day, and also enjoys long distance bike rides. Last year he rode from Biddeford to Brunswick Vermont and back, and in 2021 he did a round-trip bike trip to Bar Harbor.

Cruz not only rides and repairs bicycles, but he takes bike parts and transforms them into fashion.

His signature items are bicycle belts. He takes a used bicycle tire, cleans off the dirt and grime with tire shine, and following the tread of the tire, cuts by hand a belt-sized strip.

No two belts look alike. Cruz uses all types of tires – some are thin and slick, others more textured and knobby.  Some are vintage, and some are multi-colored. All belts are accessorized from Cruz’s collection of thrifted buckles.

“Each belt is handmade, custom, and unique,” he said.

Some examples of Fabian Cruz's work. PHOTO BY LIZ GOTTHELF

 

Cruz first saw a bike tire bike on someone who stopped by his home garage to get a flat tire fixed. He began making them himself about three years ago. The first few tries “looked very choppy,” he said.

“I perfected them, and perfected them,” said Cruz.

He acquires the used tires from area bike shops and stores in Boston.

“When you’re part of the bike community, you all feel like family,” he said.

Cruz promotes his belts on Instagram, and has for the past 70 days posted a photo of himself wearing a different belt.

“It’s a great way to keep people engaged. I haven’t repeated any belts. I never run out of material,” he said.

Some of the belts he has modeled online have been sold and are no longer available. To check out his inventory go to his website, where he also sells other items including keychains made from metal bike parts.

Saco Bay News Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.