| Re: Make your neighbor cry and hug you: fix their bike!
landotter wrote:
> I don't lend bike tools, ever. You want something fixed? I'd rather do
> it than lend out my tools. My electric hedger is another deal, borrow
> it for a week, have fun.
Nobody around here (Boston) seems to do any landscaping any more -- I
feel like an endangered species. It seems like not too long ago people
used to fix their own stuff. Now, if a bike breaks, people toss it.
Everything has become disposable. One of the great ironies is, with the
Internet, we're in some kind of DIY "golden age". Know-how is easy to
Google, so are odd parts, and Ebay is like a global flea market.
It's nice that you're seen as a hero to your neighbor, and it's nice of
you to be so generous with your time and expertise. On the flip side, I
built a really nice bike up for my wife - city bike, 26" wheels, slicks,
fenders, rack with rear pannier, bar bag, v-brakes, trigger shifters,
etc. Perfectly matched to what she wanted - a reliable, no fuss machine
for commuting and weekend rides. She always has people telling her how
she needs to "upgrade" if she wants to be faster when she goes on club
rides. Ditto on my son's bike (we built together), old Raleigh, but with
new bar-ends (8s), new wheels, clipless pedals, etc. On a club ride one
condescending jerk remarked that he was surprised my son was faster than
he, given that he had all the "wrong stuff".
On a balmy evening last August, my dog walking neighbor (professor)
stopped to chat as I was replacing an exhaust system. He made a
sympathetic remark about what a shame it was to be under a car on such a
nice day. I flipped my goggles up, took a long pull on my Tecate, and
told him this was the perfect thing to be doing, and I meant it! It made
me wonder if he had ever fixed anything. Fixing stuff makes me happy,
and if I can make someone else happy too, like you did, that's a bonus.
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