This is old news to a lot of you, but the Bike Kitchen rules.
My Peugeot had an unfortunate run-in with a BMW some time ago and I’ve been needing to replace the front fork. Local shops were estimating a >$125 repair and some even refused to do the work due to liability. Eventually, I said “screw that, the bike isn’t even worth that much” and took it in to the Bike Kitchen Saturday to work on it myself.
An old-timer volunteer, Rudy, patiently showed me how to use all the headset installation tools, bitched about how he didn’t have such extravagancies in his day (“We just did this with a hammer and screwdriver!”), and even offered some MacGuyver workarounds that any reputable shop wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot seat post (coke can stem shimming! using old headset parts as spacers!). I stuck around a bit longer to true my wheels and adjust my brakes and I was back on the road in a couple of hours.
Yeah so maybe I’ll be scraping myself off the grill of a bus in a couple of weeks but it’s my life, dammit, and it only cost me $5 to use their space, extensive set of tools, and replacement parts for the day.
The Bike Kitchen is right here in the Mission on Florida between 18th and 19th. Open hours are: Tue, Wed, Thu 6-9pm; Sat noon-5pm
Previously:
The Bike Kitchen has been a great community resource for many years. Formerly located in the now defunct Mission Village Market. they still survive and flourish. In addition to their empowering tutelage, they are a great community of folks.
No bro but how about brah? Brah, your wrong about the coke can. I am a bike mechanic, well not practicing, but it’s like riding a bike, and I did a long stint turning wrenches after college. Coke can shims are the approved method of shimming. We all did it, even on our high-end italian racers with campy components and sew-ups. “Oh shit I reamed the seat tube too much for this seat post, fuck it, shim it and send it out the door!”
I’m just glad this “old-timer” (what was he 40?) was around to transfer the knowledge to you young’ins