Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

Articles Sections >> Arts + Words Bars + Clubs Dating Festivals Fitness Food Lifestyle Music Theater Travel + Tourism Who's Who > View All Ask Centerstage Cheap Thrills Green Thumb

Our new eco-expert learns do-it-yourself bike maintenance from West Town Bikes.

Monday Jul 30, 2007.     By Sharon Hoyer

Lifestyle Feed

After an abusive winter buffeted by salt, slathered in slush and periodically encased in freezing rain, my bike's rear derailleur had finally had enough. One spring morning, in defiance of the physical properties of steel, it unceremoniously fell in two pieces, the lower wheel and chain collapsing to the pavement. I walked my bike over to the neighborhood shop where Sarah, the mechanic on duty, winced in sympathy and informed me that I could no longer order the proper make of derailleur for my old Schwinn. I could pick up a used one from the Working Bikes co-op for a couple bucks, though, and bring it back to the store for installation. It was starting to sound like a lot of running around town without the aid of a bicycle; I gazed down at the flaccid chain in reflection. Sarah must have sensed my discouragement and offered a third option: I could save the $20 labor charge by installing the part myself at an open shop day at West Town Bikes.

My previous bike maintenance experience was limited to fixing flats, and my overall mechanical acuity ranks up there with the best of unassisted light-bulb changers. Considering the old Varsity is my primary mode of transportation, it seemed like the ideal time to make the leap from inflating rubber to calibrating steel. A friend who tinkers with bikes hooked me up with a used but functional derailleur he'd salvaged. I brought it (along with considerable trepidation) to the location Sarah specified. It wasn't easy to find—the entrance sits off an alley on the northwest corner of North and Western, unmarked from the street.

West Town Bikes is a fully equipped, not-for-profit shop staffed by volunteers. It focuses on education and DIY: Open Shop is held once or twice a week for a suggested donation of $10, and it offers regular workshops in maintenance and building bikes at a comparable cost. There's a monthly no-men-allowed workshop that gives women a chance to monkey with sprockets and grease without a lot of testosterone getting in the way. It also hosts the BickerBikes program, an initiative to educate local teenagers on bike repair, maintenance and safety, as well as on good nutrition and the importance of exercise.

As community-minded as it all sounded, I felt a little nervous; Chicago is notorious for bicycle snobs who won't even acknowledge your ride if it isn't homemade with stripped-down fixed gear. As it turned out, my concern was for nothing. The young mechanics and messengers hanging out at the shop were happy to share their knowledge on request—"on request" being the operative words. I could ineffectively fumble with and curse at any tool in the shop uninterrupted for as long as my patience would hold.

Anyone who owns a vehicle knows the most expensive aspect of repair is labor. In my evening at West Town Bikes I discovered why. Ten minutes into the disassembly process I was up to my collarbones in grease and up to my eyeballs in frustration. I had to step away more than once to contemplate the rows of enigmatic wrenches dangling from the pegboards or just pace around the floor rolling my neck and taking measured breaths. However, with ample guidance from volunteers Squeaky and K-Bunny, I had the new derailleur affixed, adjusted and greased up in a little under three hours. I rode home on my smoothly shifting gears satisfied and exhausted…and duly puffed-up with pride.

It took a move from the regimented lawnscapes of the suburbs to the congestion of a major metropolis for Sharon to look twice at what she puts in the trash, down the sink and into her own body. She reports fortnightly on her endeavors to change "greening" from calculated deviation to a practicable way of life. You can contact her here.