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:

Rainy Day Bike Kitchen Caravan