I’m not very good with my hands. Sure, I can find my way around a computer keyboard, and I’m practically a gunslinger with a remote control, but if something breaks, I’m not really the guy you want around.
Being mechanically inept isn’t as much of a character flaw as it was back in the days of the horse and buggy but still, every once and a while I curse my inability. These occasions usually center around the only piece of machinery I really rely on: my bicycle.
Like many students, I use my bike to get everywhere: class, work, to—and more dangerously, home from—bars. My dependence on it is such that if it’s out of commission for even a few days, it’s a major inconvenience. This happens all too often, as it takes me days to fix even the most minor malfunction or, worse yet, to allow myself to surrender the vehicle into the hands of another money-grubbing bike shop.
Enter Alex Gatien. He’s what you could call a bicycle guru, and most days you can find him administering to his ever-growing flock in the cavernous depths beneath the International Student Centre. Gatien is the coordinator of Bikechain, a service for U of T students in need of assistance for their two-wheeled tranports.
Bikechain is nestled in a dank stone alcove at the end of the winding hallway in the ISC’s basement. The place looks like a kind of bicycle hospital, with its four or five patients in various states of disarray, some with front wheels removed, inner tubes hanging out like black intestines, others upside- down on racks, being tended to by wrench-wielding students. Wheels and spokes are piled in the corner and hanging from hooks. A slogan written on the wall reads “Two wheels good, four wheels bad.”
The shop, which has been in operation since 2004, is manned by six work-study students and two hired mechanics working under Gatien’s supervision. The talented folks at Bikechain can fix your bike for you, but the idea is really to teach students how to do it themselves. Either way, you’ll leave with a healthy bike, having paid only for the parts you use, which rarely run more than $5 or $10.
“People really want to learn,” said Gatien. “Even if you’re doing something [to fix the bike], it’s better to explain things to the person as you’re doing it.”
“People really seem to appreciate it,” he said. “Going to a bike shop is really expensive. They’ll charge you $20 to change a flat tire. Fifteen of that is labour. Being able to do things yourself makes it a lot cheaper.”
Bikechain’s services have wider implications than just bestowing some mechanical skills on U of T’s cycling students. “It encourages people to bike more,” said Gatien, “because it makes it more accessible.” That’s important in a city that so far seems not to have recognized the benefits a pedaling population can have on a crowded urban centre.
“Bikes eliminate pollution, they’re really cheap to use, they keep people in shape. They take up much less space than cars, and they’re fun,” said Gatien.
Unfortunately, local government still seems to see cars as the only legitimate form of transportation. That’s something the people at Bikechain would like to change. “I’d like to do more advocacy stuff,” said Gatien. “I think that bikes should be accommodated everywhere, but the city’s done a terrible job with bike lanes.”
Toronto has no major East-West bike lane routes, and existing lanes are poorly designed and unsafe. Gatien would like to see the city follow Montreal’s example and build segregated bike lanes that are separated from traffic by a physical divider.
This April, students voted in favour of giving Bikechain a 25-cent levy. Now armed with an annual budget of over $20,000, look for the shop to expand its repair operations and continue to make the lives of U of T’s cycling students a little bit easier in the coming years. That’s a good thing, because I just got a flat tire and I’m not sure I know what to do.
Bikechain is located at the North basement enterance of the International Student Centre at 33 St. George Street. It’s open everyday from noon to 5 pm.
