I offer free bike repair in Ypsilanti, both from a trailer I tow with my bike and my home. I prefer to set up in high-traffic bikeways near Prospect Park or Riverside Park. I used to work in a bike shop in Ann Arbor (Motor City Bicycle) and when I moved to Ypsi a couple of years ago I realized that there were no bike shops in town. The only way folks could access bike repair was to bring their bike to TreeFort Bikes, which is located away from downtown and not easily accessible to people without other means of transportation and/or with broken bikes. Ypsilanti is a city that has a lot of folks relying on bikes for transportation that are without regular and predictable access to shop services. I set out to find a way to contribute and offer free service as an alternative to prohibatively-expensive traditional shop repairs and on other days than the local Co-Op is able to offer (only Saturday mornings 6mos of the year). I also frequently accept donated bikes or pull bikes from the trash, tune them up, and drop them off at local gas stations with a sign that says "free bike." With an initial donation of $500, I was able to purchase a stock of consumable shop supplies (brake pads, cables, cable housing, bearings, tubes, etc.) that allowed me to get started and it has since been entirely self-sustaining via donations. Donations are not required or asked for, but if people ask, I inform them that donations are used to purchase supplies to keep it free for the folks who need it to be.

I believe that access to no or low-cost bicycle service is a critical public need and I just try and to my part to keep people riding.

Service Log:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xtAi9EfX1f_sf--4mXKThWeQdR5bM1hOlUh0rZSJqaI/edit?usp=sharing

Purchases and Donations:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N9DFhI2vJJIuW7oEGss7uz0XNVCOSCWS1YhKEiSUKsg/edit?usp=sharing