The bike repair shop in the Guelph Tool Library will be open three days a week to start, but will expand hours as more volunteers come on board
You can now get your bike fixed free-of-charge in Downtown Guelph.
But it’s not any ordinary bike repair space at the Guelph Tool Library, it’s an education space too.
The Freehub Community Bike Centre space officially opened in the Old Quebec Street Mall and will run all summer.
“We’re like a DIY-positive space,” said Rob Reid with the Guelph Tool Library. “We want you to leave here knowing more than you knew coming in, and hopefully being able to do it yourself or help someone else do it next time.
“Be expected to get your hands dirty when you come.”
He said the bike shop has all the common tools, and should be able to help out with about 90 per cent of jobs. Issues they can’t help fix, Reid said they’ll send you to a local shop who can help on the more advanced stuff.
“Most people, it’s like adjusting brakes, shifters, changing tires, that kind of stuff … skills I think everyone should know, we’ll be very easily able to help you with here,” he said.
The centre runs three days a week through April and May – Saturdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. – and will be open through the summer months as well.
“We will add more hours as we get more volunteers, and more people start coming in,” Reid said.
“We all have a bunch of different backgrounds,” said Matthew Manassis, a founding volunteer of the Freehub.
“Some of us have volunteered at other bike co-op type spaces on campuses around southern Ontario and cities across southern Ontario, and we all wanted to see something like this in Guelph outside of the university setting.
“It’s more accessible to people who aren’t involved with the university.”
He said it’s been good to connect with other cyclists in the city, whether they be athletes or recreational bikers.
“For many, a bicycle is their main mode of transportation for getting around. The Guelph Tool Library wants to support these folks by providing them a place and tools to maintain and repair their bikes,” Guelph Tool Library co-founder and board member John Dennis said in a news release.
“This is just another example of supporting our mission to build community resilience by engaging our members in sharing knowledge, skills and resources.”
And if officials get their way, this service could go beyond the summer.
“Bikes are a miraculous invention, and you can use them all year round,” Reid said. “It would be great to have space to do this all year.”
“I don’t stop riding my bike in the fall, and I don’t think anybody should,” added Manassis.
“Even if we only run this program in this space in the summer, I don’t think that’s a reflection on the need for a space like this year-round.”
Reid said if they had space in the winter, it would be nice to be able to store and fix donated bikes and turn them over to families at a discounted rate.
He’d also like to run workshops out of a bigger space one day, but added anyone interested in having them run a workshop or event can get in contact with him.
“We’re starting small, but there’s a lot of potential,” he said.
“Bikes can solve a lot of problems. We’re just a small piece of that.”
Source: Guelph Today
