What: The Bozeman Bike Kitchen is Hosting a Grand Re-Opening Party!

When: Thursday, May 15at 4:00pm - 8:00pm

Where: Bozeman Bike Kitchen - 2104 Industrial Drive, Bozeman, Montana 59715

RSVP: facebook.com/events/311033502380342/

We're having a Grand Re-Opening Celebration and invite you to visit our new space, learn about our programs, mingle with like-minded folks, and celebrate bicycling!

The Bike Kitchen has humble roots going back to the days when we were located in one of our founder's driveways, followed by our time "squatting" in a chicken coop, followed by a quaint garage. This winter we moved into an airy, visible, and quality garage space located at in the old Thompson Rental building.

On Thursday, May 15th during Bozeman's Bike Week the Bike Kitchen invites you to our space to chat with our Board of Director's, meet our Volunteer Staff, take a tour of our facility, and have a good time.

Bring your kids as we'll be holding a mini "bike rodeo" on site. We are working to have food and drink options available (in progress) to make an evening out of it all. Please drop by to say hi if you've never had a chance to look us up, or if it's been awhile since you've come down. We look forward to meeting you!

Hank and Jordanna are riding their Long Haul Truckers in Asia.  Hank is rocking a Bike Kitchen shirt the whole way.  His mustache is better, and less ironic than yours.  

http://mekongbybike.blogspot.com/

Alleycat Easter Keg Hunt - April 29th, 6:30pm at Peet's Hill Parking Lot (near library)

The tool shown below has been the topic of a bit of discussion at the Bike Kitchen as of late. The official name for this device is the Park Tool BT-2 Cable Stretcher.

From the Park Tool website:

Commonly referred to as a "4th Hand", the Park Tool Cable Stretcher pulls cables tight for adjustment of derailleurs and brakes. It features one-hand operation with a thumb lock to hold the cable tight while your hand is freed up to tighten pull-up bolts and nuts. A must for any shop, home or professional.

Stevil from "All Hail The Black Market" posted a little commentary regarding this issue on his blog today with his post Tools come in all shapes and sizes..

From "All Hail the Black Market"

I was never sure why this was called the fourth hand. Personally I only have two and this acts as my third. I suppose if you get down to the nitty gritty, this pinches as well as pulls, so perhaps it would be more appropriately called 'the third and fourth hand', but just so there's no confusion, well simply call it by it's traditional name, a cable puller.

Jon W., Lauren C., and Gordie Elizabeth Howe are moving away from Bozeman.  Graduate school and teaching opportunities call and The Bozeman Fix would like to wish them the best.  If you're friends with these folks get 'hold of us and we'll tell you where and when the going away shindig is. 

Gordon Elizabeth Howe before his audition for the film "Somebody Call a Doctor"

I suppose that this post will mean a lot more if you're read the previous post and wondered what it was that Andrew was talking about. It will also make a lot more sense if you've been down to the kitchen and have been privy to all the "Engrish" jokes made about this bicycle frame. Unlike Andrew's find, "...this one is unfortunately not guaranteed."

I suppose that this post wont mean much unless you have been down to the kitchen lately, but for those that have this one is for you. I found another Precision Mechanism. This one is unfortunately not guaranteed, though maybe it will be after testing.

Just one Mechanism? I wonder which one it is.

Mallet Building. Grab an old ski pole or golf club and come on down to the new Bike Kitchen location. Off of Rouse, head east at the Meat Shoppe. Go down that short street, it's in the garage at the end on the left.
I'll have my drill and bits and a hacksaw. Maybe I'll pick up some epoxy. You'll need to provide your own grip tape (hockey tape works well, available at Summit or Army-Navy) and pipe. Try to find 2" O.D. PVC will work but eventually will break- you've been warned. Sam might bring some ABS.

Ok, see you there.

-DNA

EDIT- Donations for supplies will be gladly accepted.

Last week I got a nice little surprise in my Fixed Gear Gallery email:

"DNA:

I'm in Bozetown all week. Just helped my GF move here for Grad School. Any action around town I should know about. I'd love to do a piece for the FGG website....

lostgears"

Lostgears (aka Bill) was in town from Traverse City for a week and got a first-hand introduction to the riding around here. After doing the obligatory hikes and meanders about town he swung by the Bike Kitchen to see C-Note and Sam "No Nickname Yet" H in action. Wedesday I took him to South Cottonwood for a quick mountain bike ride. More accurately, I went mountain biking, as I was riding one. Bill took his 80's Trek touring bike with 700x38s and a monster (for off road) 42x18 gear ratio. And he managed to clean all but maybe three short pitches on the way up and all but one on the way down.
I had, since taking my first fixie off road about ten years ago shied away from fixed off-roading. My perspective has always been from a mountain bike purist's perspective and the qualities of a good off-road ride were unattainable when you must pedal incessantly- fast turns, downhill speed, air (not too much for me). But watching Bill clean the same rocky sections I was with the extra challenge of having to be more cognizant of pedal placement gave me a fresh view. I'll likely be building an off-road fix in the next few weeks.

After the ride we enjoyed a cold PBR as some younger guys gave us props for riding our old bikes without gears or suspension. We then chatted about the Bike Co-op in Traverse City he helped start with Dennis, Grand Poobah of Fixed Gear Gallery. I won't bore you with a transcript of the conversation, but some of his insight will be making it to the Bike Kitchen.

Later that evening he made it by for polo. Unfortunately we were unable to cajole him into playing. Next time.

Here's some links to pics he took:

Bike Kitchen

South Cottonwood

Polo

And his blog

-DNA

I posted this elsewhere, but it made sense here too.

There are a lot of things that make me despair, not the least of which is that I just saw Paris Hilton responding to John McCain using her in a campaign add (HOW FUCKING FAR HAS THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM FALLEN? sorry, I've got myself under control again), but there are still a few things that renew my faith. One of those things, a tangible one anyway, is The Bozeman Bike Kitchen. It's not necessarily The Bike Kitchen itself, although for someone like myself there is a great deal of comfort in being surrounded by bikes and bike parts, but that's not really what The Kitchen is, that's just the building and all the physical crap that makes it work. What The Bike Kitchen is, and what makes me feel so good about it, is the people that show up every week; that's what makes it something that feeds my soul. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that people both detract from, and replace, my faith in humanity, but there it is nonetheless.

There's an eagerness, an excitement, a passion, you can see it in a person's face when they are there to help, they know they are doing something that will help someone else. Well that, and they love bikes; I only trust two types of people, those who love bikes, and dogs (I literally mean dogs, not people who like dogs). I've watched volunteers instantly connect with each other while scratching their heads over a problem. People who have never met, get their hands dirty together, and become friends before they really know each others' names. It's absolutely amazing. It's not just the volunteers though, there's profound relief in a person's eyes when you hand them a bike, and you can see that they're not worrying about how they're going to get to work any more. Don't get me started on what it feels like to hand a bike to a kid. I'm not sure which of the small details it is that makes me show up there tired and unfocused and leave there focused and hardly able to wait until next week, all I can quantify is that Tuesday night is always a good night, and a lot of my other nights aren't.

The bicycle may be the vehicle (pun intended), but it's the people that make it good. I guess, in retrospect, I shouldn't be surprised. One couldn't be surrounded by all that good and not feel good.

Don't get me wrong, we need help, and I'm asking for it. But, I also want other people to get a chance to experience this, it's good! If you've got a spare hour on Tuesday night, come down. We need your help, but I swear you'll get more out of helping us than you'll give.

C-Note

It's Tuesday, and you know what that means...

Right now at The Kitchen I have two individuals who are engaging in a little carpentry project. Hey I know the chicken coup we're operating out of isn't glamourous, but that is no reason not to fix it up a little. My point is that even if you aren't the best mechanic, there are still ways to contribute.

If you don't have any idea what this is all about, you can check The Kitchen out on the ultranets OR just stop by tonight. We're just behind (south of) the adult learning center off of Durston (SW of 11th and Durston). Listen for the good vibe. BTW, things usually get rolling around 6:15.

C

After an interlude last Tuesday, due to me nearly getting blown to Oz in a thunderstorm, the Bike Kitchen will be up and running this evening at, or around, six pm. The Kitchen is located just north of the bleachers, which are just north of the field north of the high school...bring a compass. We get bicycles in the hands of people who need them, and we rely on you to help us do that.

Polo happens tomorrow at the Hawthorn school, somewhere between the Great Lakes and the Midwest. I'll be there with the mallets around 7:30. If you're going to drink, keep it discreet!

C

The Bozeman Bike Kitchen will be having a bike maintenance clinic this week. It will occur at the Kitchen (north of the high school, just off of Durston and 11th) at 7 pm on Thursday 6/19/08. We will be doing this on a semi-regular basis all summer. The clinics will be lead by a local, professional mechanic, who is one of the very few people I would personally trust to work on one of my bikes.

We won't be performing repairs, but we will get you started with the necessary skills to fix yer own bike.

Send The Kitchen an email if you have any questions. info@bozemanbikekitchen.org

Cheers,
C-Note