Bike Forth

For some reason I’m very hard on pedals, and they never seem to last more than several seasons on my bike. We had a New Year’s Day brunch to head to a month ago, and planned to cycle there. Not long before leaving I realized that the right pedal was basically about to fall apart, and most likely would not last the 18 mile round trip to the brunch. Luckily I spotted an old right pedal I had saved from an earlier iteration of pedal replacement, so I replaced the broken pedal with the old pedal, and we went on our way.

The replacement pedal, being old, decided to fall apart early this week, the body of the pedal tending to slide off the axle. This was not going to work for my commuting for very long, so on Wednesday after work I headed over to Bike Forth to rummage through the parts bins and hopefully ride off with a working pedal. Bike Forth is a DIY repair shop that is run by the Davis Bike Collective and is housed just east of downtown. Their collection of parts salvaged from innumerable bikes is large, and if one doesn’t need fancy replacement equipment for a fancy bike, it’s a good place to go to try to fix one’s bike. A member of the collective is on hand during the hours it is open to provide repair tips and to collect a modest donation for the time spent in the shop and parts used.

I found a suitable pedal readily and quickly swapped it for the broken pedal — it couldn’t have been an easier bicycle repair. After 10 minutes and a $5 donation I was on my way. Not all bike problems I want to try to repair myself, but for those I know I can fix, it’s great having this option in town.