I have had A Saga with fixing my bike and im going feral at this point
- two weeks ago I got a flat tire, but I was right next to a bike shop (Firehouse to those in west) so I just took it in to have the tube replaced
- they put in a defective tube which, upon immediately exploding, ruptured the tire
- they replaced the tire and tube (mind you they charged full price, did not reimburse me for the defective tube, did not even apologize), but uhh they did also put the wheel back at an angle (it's a belt drive bike so like, yeah no it's an easy mistake)
- I only notice this after biking like 40 miles over the course of a few days, by this point the wheel is wobbly and not balanced
okay fed up at this point I decide to take it to a different bike shop, twenty minutes walk east instead of twenty minutes west. because of odd hours I have to wait until tonight meaning I haven't been able to get around for a week. after a long day I walk home from the train, grab my bike, walk all the way there up-hill, only to see a big sign reading "we are at capacity and are not taking new bikes for the next few weeks".
great. a helpful clerk tells me that I could try either the shop I first went to or a different one twenty more minutes of walking further east. fine. okay fine.
after walking all the way over there I find a line of people waiting by the door. I ask if this is where I can drop my bike off, to which someone helpfully says "nah they don't do that here, you're looking for Bike Church" as if that was a phrase that makes sense. I clarify, no im looking to have my bike worked on and was told to come here, they re-iterate more dismissively that im here for Bike Church. okay I guess im here for bike church which,, opens in twenty minutes. okay.
after waiting the doors open, I ask the clerk hey can I drop my bike off here, they ask if im here for Bike Church, and im just, dear god please tell me what bike church is im dying
oh. bike church is a DIY thing, just pay for parts and you can use all their tools. that's cool actually
okaaay, but my wheel needs to be trued that's,,, a little above beginner. the clerk is like yeah no that does seem above your level. okay can I drop it off and come back in a few days when a pro has had time to work on it? no? oh y'all only do Bike Church? okay I guess im here for bike church
and then I meet Randal, a very sweet old man volunteering for bike church. he hears me out and immediately goes "ohh yeah no that's above the caliber of a beginner, lets work together on it"
I uh. did not plan on working on a bike tonight. so wearing jewelry and in an ankle length a-line dress with my hair pulled back in a gold hair pin I start working on my bike with Randal who,, yeah does as well a job as I could expect, and hey now I know how to true a tire
the tire is still unbalanced but it's at least usable... after all this it's still not fixed just, less broken.
oh! extra fun part is that while biking home I forgot that deactivating the breaks was something I had to do to get at the tire so ajfkla; found myself needing to break but not having any breaks, hhhh