Bike Dungeon

The Bike Dungeon is a teaching shop located at the University of Manitoba. We prefer that customers explore their own bikes and learn repair for themselves. We will teach those who need help and perform services for those who won't or can't. We have been funded by the One Tonne Challenge, the Environmental Youth Corps, and soon the Manitoba Student Transportation Network, but continued funding comes by way of donations for service and parts, as well as donations of parts and tools.

Status

The bike dungeon is closed as of 2016

Location

The Bike Dungeon is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the Fort Garry campus of the University of Manitoba. We borrow space from UMREG, the student recycling group, located in the basement of the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing. Our room number is 157, and best entry is found at the University Centre loading dock.

Contact

Best to email us at bikdedungeon@gmail.com if you would like to make an appointment.

Hours

Approximate times only, with little to no guarantee.
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday during regular session, September 1 - May 1.
Summer session hours are TBD.

Resources

Many of the UMREG staff are able to help with simple direction and orientation.

Security Services on campus has sought a partnership with the Bike Dungeon to maintain their bike patrol bikes and offload abandoned bikes that are liberated from campus bike racks.

Collaborative Shops: Continual Cycles, The Bike Dump, Natural Cycle

City bike shops have contributed countless parts, tools, and ideas through their excellent dumpsters.

Services

We have cheap and plentiful oil, air, and grease, and we'll share them with you if your use is reasonable.
We can offer wheel truing, wheel replacement, replacement tubes, tube patching, replacement tires, bearing adjustment and repacking, chain cleaning, wheel building, etc. as either a service or as a do-it-yourself.

Used Parts

We have deraillers, shifters, brake calipers, brake levers, brake & shifter cables, brake & shifter cable housing, front and rear hubs, rims, spokes, front and rear wheels, handlebars, stems, grips, seat posts, saddles, bottom brackets, cranks, pedals, cog sets, cassettes, chains, and bearings in workable used condition, and all they often need is a good cleaning and lube, where applicable. For some parts we may ask for a few dollars donation, or just a little work cleaning and fixing used parts to replace the ones you need.

New Parts

We have varying supply of tubes, brake pads, brake & shifter cables, brake & shifter cable housing, cranks, chains, rim strips, cog sets, pedals, tires, grips, handlebar wrap, etc. that we will most often sell at the price that that part cost us. If you're able to fetch the part yourself, we can often direct you to the best place in town to get it.

Workshops

The Bike Dungeon has only given small group instruction, but its members have been involved with several workshops over the years, including: winter biking, regular maintenance, dealing with traffic
Future workshops might include: wheel building, effective bike security, preventative maintenance, safe biking

Prices

All of our prices are suggested donations. We will try to accommodate most reasonable budgets, but we cannot receive less than the amount that we paid for an item. Donations of bikes and bike parts, needed tools, and volunteer time can offset some amount on your bill. We are prepared to barter, but remember that bartering relies on goods or services that both parties value. Most of our parts are old, used, broken, dirty, and refurbished. As such, prices are negligible compared to the same part new. Most used chains are $5, while used wheels range from $10 to $25, depending largely on supply and repair time. Whenever possible, our prices for new parts will be the same as what we paid for them.

Volunteering

We can always put volunteers to work. If you have something very specific that you want to do, we'll keep out of your way. If you have time and don't care what work you do, we have an infinite supply of bearings to clean, tubes to patch, spokes to sort, wheels to disassemble, chains to clean & sort, etc. that you can help with. We'll take volunteer time to offset service costs, but we can't budge on new part costs.

Website

The Bike Dungeon, hosted by UMREG.

Media

The Bike Dungeon was first featured in the Bulletin, a good news publication put forth by the University. The article marks the christening of the shop and highlights our funding, driving force, and mantra.
The Manitoban, the weekly student newspaper, was the avenue for an anti-cyclist rant in March 2007 to which many, us included, have responded.

Links

Local

• The Bike Dump via the bike collectives wiki and their own website
• Sanctoral Cycles, a co-op shop at the Canadian Mennonite University
• Natural Cycle is a great co-operative shop in downtown Winnipeg.
• Continual Cycles is the only mobile repair shop in town.
• Bike to the Future is an effective local advocacy group for Winnipeg and Manitoba. Locals can register their residences and destinations on the Map.
• One Green City is an effort to develop an active transportation network in Winnipeg.
• MSTN, the Manitoba Student Transportation Network, promotes sustainable transportation through educational programs and events.

Fix It

• Park Tools has all the right tools, plus a good repair tutorial section.
• Sheldon Brown is the best bike resource online. Read every section and every page for a really good start.
• Jobst Brandt, author of The Bicycle Wheel, posted most of the articles on this site, a logical analysis of common bike myths and physics.
• Jim Langley has some repair tips for you.

See Also

• Community Bicycle Organizations