Why Should LBK Exist?
Out of the mouths of mechanic babes
TL;DR - LBK is crowdfunding!
We’re in the thick of our crowdfund (over 1/3 funded!), which means the middle is…crickets 🦗 it’s ok, I’ve done a crowdfund before and this is totally normal. But with the deadline looming (2nd of June) it’s time to ramp things back up!
Volunteers Wanted
We will need some extra hands to help clear out the space one day in June. Could that person be you? Please leave us your email here.
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Don't just take my word for it
My colleagues also want LBK to exist.
The London Bike Kitchen boasts a team of all women and non-binary people - this is rare in an industry rife with white MAMILS (middle-aged men in lycra, for the uninitiated).
Here's what they have to say about the world we live in and what it's like at LBK.
Listen to the full interviews here. (Text has been edited for length.)
Amie
I like working at LBK because we treat each other like people instead of cogs in a machine. Our value isn't determined by how much money we can bring in or how quickly we can fix a bike. We're just humans doing our best and that's valued. It feels really radical and refreshing to work in an environment like this.
We also have a lot of freedom, so we have freedom to explore new interests, to try something out, to make a decision and also to just change our minds. We also trust each other, so we understand that we all love LBK, we love helping people and each other and therefore we're always just trying our best and there are going to be no bad intentions.
So in practice this means that we respect each other's decisions and we have debates rather than arguments.
My experience in other bike shops has quite literally been the opposite. I felt that the only way I'd be truly valued or achieve respect was to become the absolute fastest and most efficient mechanic. I was often made to feel like I wasn't learning quick enough. Questioning the status quo was also out of the question.
I understand the pressures that independent bike shops are under to be profitable, but the irony is most brains don't perform or learn very well while stressed and the status quo isn't always the best way.
I just want to be able to share the culture and the space that we've created at LBK with more people. I'm incredibly grateful that I get to work in like such a kind caring environment, but I often feel like it's not really fair that I get to do that and other people don't. So I would just like to open the DIY space, open our doors, and yeah, share that environment with as many people as possible.
Jamie
The reason why I like working at LBK is just down to the people that I work with. I think for such a small team we get on very well. I think there's a lot of, either through the small team or just through the type of people that I work with at LBK, I think there's a lot of trust.
It makes me feel more comfortable in myself, but also just doing work, being able to rely on people, things like that. We're quite like minded, not to like an unhealthy level, but working with people that are on the same page with me whether that's, you know, like bikes or social issues it's nice to feel like there's shared experiences or camaraderie and, I like that.
I like working in somewhere with a co op environment. I think that that allows for a lot of flexibility in a lot of areas. I think that, in general, it's just a more human way of doing, but also like more humane way of doing business and doing work. It means that we can be flexible with customers if they've got different needs or if they've got different requirements going on It's not like one set response for everyone.
I think my dream for LBK would probably just be for it to move beyond being a business, or like a typical business I think. I like the idea that people should still get paid, but I think I'd almost like for people to not have to pay. I know that that kind of is a tricky one to justify just because then you have to go down the route of getting grants and chasing money from other ways of getting it.
But if there wasn't that, if it was just the only reason someone wants to be there is to learn and there is no barrier to that for them, that sounds like a dream scenario. I think that's nice. And also in that dream scenario, if we could all make a million pounds every year or month or even a week, because I guess it's a dream scenario…maybe not a million, maybe that's a bit too much.
If we could have, like, entirely Wera tools in the workshop, that would also be cool.
I'm being silly, but like, I mean, we could go, we could go really down this rabbit hole, we could have like a jacuzzi in the garden or something, that'd be also very, very fun.
Silvi
My experiences in the bike industry elsewhere is that it's very male dominated. When I started in Evans Cycles when I was 19, I was the only girl mechanic there. And men would just come in to ask something and, demand to speak to another man. And like, would just not be interested about anything that I had to say, even though I knew what the issue was, or I was a person to speak to.
I like working at LBK because it's just such a like, nice environment to be in. Like, there's no egos. Like, you don't have to be careful with, offending a man by telling them that they, maybe did something wrong or, pester a man because you're not sure about something. There's no competition. We are all women and non binary people, which is such a nice bubble to be in.
It's just so empowering. It's so welcoming, so nice. I forget what it is to work solely with men. And how that feels. it's almost like when you go outside of LBK, you are, reminded that the world is still the same, and it's just our little bubble. is different and we cater for all those outsiders, all those people that are usually not welcome in the cycling spaces that are dominated by cis men.
My dreams for LBK is for us to become sustainable, for us to be able to share knowledge, share experiences, shout out that we are here and we exist as a woman / non-binary space, that the world is changing, that more people get inspired by us to do something similar. I want to feel encouraged to do something that might have been taught [to] us [that this] is not for women, not for anybody that's not a man. I want LBK to be a space for absolutely everybody, especially those that don't fit the cycling quo.
I just want to be able to like serve people and work with people and create that space that I so much feel like I needed when I was younger or that I still need outside of LBK. I think those are my most important things.
NEW CLASS: How to Pack & Rebuild Your Bike for Travel
The verdicts are in!
Our test class was a success, so we’ve released more dates for How to Pack & Rebuild Your Bike for Travel (now there’s a mouthful - but un/packing was too clever and unclear).
At the beginning of class when I went around the room and asked students what their greatest fears were, it wasn’t packing the bike, and it wasn’t the transit - it was putting it back together.
Our new class is perfect for this fear.
So many videos and blog posts cover how to dismantle and pack up a bike, but they don’t talk about how to rebuild it. Don’t be like all the kings horses and all the kings men - learn how to put your bike back together again!
£10 Off Any Class with code: LBKclass10
Expires 31 May so use away! We also have our evergreen deal of 15% off when you buy 2 classes.
With a successful crowdfund (hopefully!?) comes the closing of the repairs workshop, but fear not, nerds - we will still be teaching 🍎🐛
Introduction to Maintenance
Emergency Roadside Repairs
Disc Brake Home Maintenance
How to Replace a Spoke & True a Wheel
How to Lace & True a Wheel
How to Replace a Chain & Cassette
Introduction to Indexing Gears
SIGN THE PETITION
HACKNEY COUNCIL MUST DIVEST FROM ISRAEL
Hackney council maintains a twinning relationship with Haifa, an Israeli city where much of the Arab population was ethnically cleansed in 1948 and where the remainder suffer appalling discrimination.
Sign the petition to get Hackney to de-twin with Haifa.
THE ‘BIG’ BIG RIDE IS COMING
“This summer, The Big Ride for Palestine is organising a series of one day ‘Big Rides’ in different regions in the UK These will happen between 20 July and 10 August. The rides will be full day rides and will aim for the size and vibe of the annual Big Ride for Palestine we know and love.”
That’s all for now friends.
We will extend the deadline for our crowdfund until Sunday 2 June, as many of you have said you will be able to contribute after you’ve been paid.
Thank you so so so much to everyone who has donated so far. You are a massive mega superstar and we love you very much.
Please share our crowdfund if you’re not able to donate - this also helps us out massively and we love you too!
I leave you with a lovely video that Ella made about how LBK set her and her bike off on a lovely relationship. (It’s a video! Click on it!)
Ride on,
Jenni x
