Freewheeling Spirit wishes:
that D.C. had a DIY bike repair shop.
I’d like to see something like the Bike Kitchen in San Francisco (watch the Bike Kitchen video on youtube). Then, instead of working alone in a cramped space, I could be working and joking alongside fellow cyclists with lots of space and access to every tool I need.
I second that.  Bikes aren’t terribly complicated to work on, but very few people have the tools they need to do so easily and safely.  And who wants to buy and store tools that you’ll only need occasionally? A DIY bike shop – say, attached to a community center – would solve that problem.  The military bases I grew up around always had something similar for cars and woodworking, and they were heavily used. I suspect the right location would yield the same result in DC.
jen
Heh. We have nearly an entire bike shop’s worth of tools – I think the headset press is about all we’re missing – in our living room. Is this wrong?
MB
If it is, I’m definitely not right. About all I’m missing is that press, a bracket facing tool, and campy stuff. In fact, my back room is pretty much a seasonal DIY shop for all of my bike riding friends. Well, more a MarkWillDoIt shop, but still.
jen
Hmm, we don’t have a facing tool either. But who does that anymore?
Nor do we have a trueing stand. LOL, rear triangle works just fine for that…
Someday I think it would be cool to have a garage. But I wouldn’t want to have to drive too far to go surfing ;-)
Beth
We have a bike kitchen here in Sacramento … if this little town can support one (actually TWO) then I would think DC absolutely could.
We have all the tools, too, including the Campy stuff, and use the bike shop mostly for installing headsets and removing bottom brackets.
freewheel
MB, thanks for seconding this! This idea struck me as I was listening to NPR’s CarTalk while working on my bike. Click and Clack got their start with a DIY Auto repair place in Cambridge. Suddenly I was fantasizing about working on my bike in a DIY shop while listening to the banter of some talented and amusing bike mechanics! Maybe it’s just a pipe dream or … maybe it’s possible to get a grant from DOT for this.
Lee
Damn…I just did a search for bike workshops in DC and see that there are none! Moved here from Seattle and Eugene where I had access to community bike workshops. I’d be happy to get involved in any organizing/researching on how to start one in DC. Living in an apt. now I don’t have any place to work on my bike and don’t have many of my own tools either.
Dave C
Guys & Gals,
We do have a couple of DIY bike places in DC – I volunteer at one !
Try the Bike Co-op in Mt Rainier just north of DC line at:
http://www.mrbikecoop.com/index.html
or if south of the river try
Phoenix Bikes at :
http://www.phoenixbikes.org/
Both are co-ops’s and friendly to cyclists -come visit and say hi to the Englishman ;-)