BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The competitors aren't knights, they aren't riding horses and the venue is a stretch of grass next to a brewery, not a tournament field rimmed with royals and peasants, but this is still jousting.

Birmingham will get its first glimpse of a growing spectator sport Friday night as cyclists saddle five- to six-foot-tall bikes and ride at each other at Good People Brewing Company in an effort to raise money for a new nonprofit bicycle shop.

Marcus Fetch, who opened Redemptive Cycles on Second Avenue North this summer, said tall bikes have been in bigger cities -- and people have been jousting on them -- for years. But in Birmingham, they're a rare sight.

“I’ve never seen another tall bike in Birmingham besides the ones I’ve built,” he said.

He said he hopes the jousting event will draw some attention to the bikes while the event helps raise money for the shop.

The competitors won’t be pulled from the bar at Good People. They include people from Redemptive Cycles, some from a local motorcycle co-op and a few others chosen ahead of time, Fetch said.

The scoring is simple: You get two points if you knock your opponent off and you stay on, one point if you both fall off and you stay on your feet. The first person to three wins and advances in the bracket.

Fetch said he isn’t too worried about safety.

“They aren’t going to be going too fast,” he said. “It’s on the grass field on the side of Good People, so you can’t get too much speed out there.”

The sign for Redemptive Cycles Bike Shop at 1305 2nd Ave. N. in Birmingham, Ala., is shown Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Bicycles are refurbished and sold at the recently-opened business. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

Proceeds from the event will go to the nonprofit, which does more than just sell and fix bikes. Fetch said they have a lot of different programs, including one that helps people who can’t afford bikes learn about maintenance and help fix bikes for a day or two, after which they get a bike for free.

They also provide repairs based on how much someone can afford.

“There’s probably at least three people a week who come in and need repairs and they don’t have any money,” he said. “We do that for free.”

The shop also focuses on recycling, Fetch said.

“Nothing goes to the scrapyard,” he said. “We’re rebuilding Frankenstein bikes from the parts we gather, and if all else fails we use scrap parts to build art.”

The doors open for Friday night’s program at 6 p.m., with a screening of a documentary on the shop at 7 p.m. Fetch said he expects the jousting to start around 7:30 or 8 p.m., and it should all be over by 10.

Tickets are $20 at the door, and tickets also include entry into a raffle for gift cards and a bike.