Bring it over here to queens, I’ll fix it up in 5 mins.

It’s what I do

That’s part of the reason I bought my new bike with those guys. Oh, they are pretty intense bike guys (fixie types), so don’t be intimidated cuz yer not “cool enough” or whatever… they’re not like that at all. If you want a pink comfort cruiser with 80 gears, I don’t know if they’d have one, but they’d probably point you to a place that did.

I bought a new bike at Brooklyn Bike & Board on Vanderbilt this summer. Those guys are awesome. The bike was a decent price and they stand behind their stuff — i ran into a manuf. fault (nothing bad, more annoying — at least until it totally busted). They took lots of time and energy to diagnose, then fixed what was wrong… replaced the part. For free! Yeah, that’s the warranty deal, but they didn’t even try to up sell or pull any shenanigans. Good guys, nice shop. Go there.

2) Some shops have better mechanics. Sure, a higher price doesn’t necessarily mean better service, but you should be getting the low-down on the workmanship not just prices. A faulty repair can end-up putting you in danger.

3) In general, building a relationship with a shop gets you cheaper and even an occasional no-charge fix ‘em up (for small adjustments). Most bike shops take care of their regular customers.

4) Shops aside, you do save a lot of money and get the best service if you learn to do it yourself. Tools and the time to learn wrenching can be expensive, but it’s an investment that pays off over time.

5) Last advice… get your girlfriend a new bike! She deserves it!

http://www.parktool.com/repair/

The tools you need for a “tune-up” are pretty minimal. Learning basic bicycle mechanics are incredibly helpful, and saves money, for cyclists of all levels.

http://times-up.org/index.php?page=bike-co-op

It might help the average reader (and the author) understand necessity if you discussed what these repairs actually consist of. I’m guessing most riders/readers don’t really know what truing a wheel consists is and when it’s necessary. (In a nutshell, it means straightening the wheel.) I didn’t really know what a bottom bracket was until I took one apart. A great follow-up piece would describe the basics of bike repair.

By and large, I’ve found the two most helpful resources on bike repair to be the Park Tools website: http://www.parktool.com/repair/index.asp and the late, great Sheldon Brown’s website: http://www.sheldonbrown.com.