That was exactly my attitude, “I can’t do this”, and for a long long time, I couldn’t, because that’s what I was telling myself.

I know you wrote that you couldn’t afford to fix your bike, so you fixed it out of necessity. I will still applaud you for doing that, it’s not everyone’s approach to such a scenario. And now, you have skills, and a much more positive position.

I can’t wait to get on it tomorrow for my commute to work, entirely because I was able to fix those things myself. Otherwise it’s a completely regular day, but to me, it’s zen, just like you point to.

Not achieving perfect planning does provide for great human encounters. One of the two cars I ever owned, broke down in the middle of nowhere, and ended with me staying overnight in the guest room of the mechanic who ended up fixing it. Great guy, just like the gentleman you encountered. They are out there, willing to fix our broken toys :D

I definitely agree that time is a decisive factor as well, when it comes to fixing it yourself. I totally understand opting for a professional to fix your bike, if time is limited, and you want to, or have to, spend your time on other things. If you have the option to pick, I guess it’s a question of whether practicalities or passion wins out.

I don’t have experience with cars, so I can’t speak to how difficult they are to fix, and my bike is a 2nd hand single speed bike I bought for $90, exactly because I need to keep it simple. My commute is relatively flat, so the upside of having less parts that can break outweighs the struggle up the hills I need to conquer on my way to work :)

Today my knees and my back definitely agrees with the importance of a half-decent stand. I might have to look into that :)