Bike Oven

Had a nail in my tire while on the way to the LA River.
Luckily Bike Oven was nearby and open!
They were friendly and showed me how to take the tire off and patch the tube. We will definitely come back and participate in their events!

Places like this give me hope for us stupid humans!

Only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is because I’m not hyperbolic (I hope).
If this review is too long, the outcome is that I got what I needed, had some great chats, and got a reasonable price. However, there were some interpersonal dynamics to note.
I went to Bike Oven to get some parts that I had meticulously researched (more at the end, if you’re curious). I even brought the parts I was going to replace as well as the tools needed because I had no idea what to expect and I didn’t want to ask for unnecessary help. I was concerned that I would have a hard time as a woman because, let’s face it, we get that crap everywhere.
Every (at the mechanics).
Where (at Home Depot).
All (the gym).
The (in the street).
Time (even at work).
Different treatment than the boys, and usually not complimentary. And… I should mention that I’d heard through the grapevine that Bike Oven hasn’t always been kind to women. Heck, that’s partly why there’s a Women/​Trans Night at Bike Kitchen and rides like Clitoral Mass.
Anyhow, I had to ride my motorcycle there because the bike is in pieces (and I made sure to bring in my moto helmet just to illustrated my badassedness). I walk in the door and a churlish older fellow gives me the stank eye for a sec before snapping at a young fella to help me out. Churlish man asks if I brought the bike and I tell him no, which garners a look of frustration, but I add, «because I’m building it.»
Young fella (who seems rather new and double checks everything) comes to help me out and we step outside for a moment, where I take the opportunity to say, «hey, I’ve never been here before. Is there anything I need to know? Should I… tread lightly?» I hope he catches my drift in wondering about that churlish man snapping and whatnot. (I think/​hope churlish man just had a bee in his bonnet and I was being a tad sensitive).
The young fella helped me out, found me everything, and engaged me in smart conversation about what I was putting together. He got me everything I needed and I scooted off $ 20 lighter but generally excited about the project. I also had a nice chat with him and another dude about the ethics of freeing abandoned bikes. LA is rife with bike thievery but, damn, there are lot of busted bikes on poles, rusting and flat and sad and in need of a loving rider. Keep ‘em off the poles, people. That’s no life for a bike.
All in all, it was educational and amusing and the main reasons I brought up churlish man is because it might have freaked me out a bit more if I didn’t have thick skin and I truly want to believe this place is cool for the ladies. I should add, however, that I come across as very confident and smart (although I don’t feel I am either), so I don’t know what if would be like to come here in need of help. Please bear that in mind. It’s a very different experience to say «I need this» than «how does this work?»
About my project– I’m converting a mountain bike to a road bike for an average-​sized male friend. It was going to be a surprise but I’ll need him to try things on for size, so we’ll see.
At Bike Oven, I:
replaced riser bars with drop bars– found the correct width
needed brakes for drop bars– found an exact matching set
got two reflectors for my two bikes– even found the exact brand that I was replacing (fits perfectly!)
got a high-​end bottle cage
checked out pedal cages, too– found a few really great pairs but decided to wait
got a heavy-​duty U-​lock with mount
did not find bike lights, but I don’t think they often have them
still in the market for 7+3 shifters to fit on the handlebars… kinda worried about this one.
And that’s it!

I went last night at around 8:30, thinking that my bike problems would be a quick fix. Instead it took all 4 guys + the owner to help me get my bike in tip-​top shape. I am so thankful for these guys. This place is the best. Even though I ended up forcing them to stay an extra hour after their normal hours, they still tried to give me a discount. If you have a bike and you need to get it fixed (and learn how to do it yourself) come here.

Chicken is a woderful man and the patience of a saint. No matter how silly of a question I may of asked he answered in detail about the working componets of my bike which I had partically taken apart. I really enjoyed my first ride on my polished Uni-​Vega. Thanks again seriously if you have a frankenstine bike like I did and need some help at a reasonable price you gotta check out the Bike Oven in Cypress Park.

Great community shop!
I was able to true a wheel I brought in that looked like a Pringles chip!
Vlad, the guy from the shop, checked in on me several times, and was happy to assist me when needed.
If you have a little time, it’s fun to fix your own bike with professional tools. Cheaper than taking it to a regular shop –and you actually learn a useful skill along the way.
Casual and friendly place. They also sell used bikes at very low prices.
Cost me $ 5 for an hour of shop time. What a deal! Every neighborhood in the world should have a place like Bike Oven :)

A little bit hard to find because it’s a really small shop sandwiched between shops. They don’t have new bikes but they have old bikes and tools for you to use to fix your bike. They have a head bike mechanic and volunteers to help you.

Needed to get my little girls bike back on the road 2 flats chain off and a box of nuts n bolts no tools to do it so I Unilocal bike repair and get The Bike Oven. First timer and a Novis I pull up and was greeted right away. Did not know it was a do it yourself thing so asked for them to put the bike together and tune it up. They said ohkay but acted a bit grumpy about doing it but did it and was explaining what you was doing the whole time. Now I see he wanted me to do it with his help not the other way around. He was still good enough to do it. took longer then I though with a $ 10 charge a new set of brake shoes and to put it all together with a lesson. next time I’ll be prepared to get my hands dirty.

An indispensable resource for any bicycle rider. We need more places like the Bike Oven. The world would be a much better place.

One cool spot !!!, if you need help with your bike this is the place to go, not the ordinary bike shop .more like a bike workshop !!! &&&& if you have a old or used bike or bike parts, that you don’t need go by and donate them.

This place is amazing! GF and i came by to fix our bikes. we have ZERO bike fixing skills but these guys walked us through the fix and took over when we couldn’t figure it out. definitely coming back and recommending this place to others!

This is a great place to learn about bikes, fix a bike, or just hang out. The guy named Chicken who works here is a really interesting character and full of good advice. Everyone else who works here /​volunteers here seems to be great too. I really enjoy the community spirit of the Bike Oven and don’t know of anywhere similar in L.A. They also have a decent and always-​changing rotation of bikes for sale out front, which are in the $ 75 — $ 100 range. So this is also a good place to pick up a bike to ride around the City.

This is one of the most eclectic shops I’ve never been to! If a mechanic shop and a bike shop had a baby, it would be the Bike Oven. The shop is tiny. It’s greasy. They take a hands-​on approach to everything. You can ask the employees questions but you basically look for any parts you want by yourself. Most if not all the parts are 2^nd hand/​used items. Paul aka «Chicken» was a big help. He showed us where everything was and told us to make ourselves at home.
My fiancé and I were looking for tires for our mountain bikes at a low cost. We found tires that basically looked brand new with lots of tread still left and purchased each tire for $ 5 apiece. What a steal! You can’t get any better than that!
You can also bring your bike in and work on it in the shop with the instruction of the employees. They tell you what to do but you do the work yourself. It’s $ 5 an hour for the use of their facility but all the tools are there. They also have classes to teach you how to maintain your bike.
We will definitely be back for all of our future bike needs!
Tip: Look for the bike mural/​painting on the wall to find the store. There is no sign posted!

Incredible shop! I’ve bought 2 bikes from here, a Diamondback and a Raleigh, both for $ 75. While both were incredible deals, what makes Bike Oven special is the dedication of the people there; they, unlike department-​store folks, REALLY, REALLY like bikes. They’ll help you with anything you want re bikes. You don’t even have to buy anything there; just use their expertise and tools to help your bike out (only $ 5 an hour too!).
One caveat though; this isn’t a bike shop bike shop. They have a few clunkers (and some nice old bikes too) that they can soup up for you, but they don’t have like a huge selection of bikes. My advice: see what they have and if there’s nothing you like, go on Craigslist and buy the bike you need then bring it in so you can get some lessons on how to tune it up. It sure makes a lot more sense buying a nice used bike that’s a lot higher quality than a new mediocre one.

Thanks to this place, and the shape my bike was in, I’ve learned to take apart, clean, and reassemble a rear wheel, change a gear cassette, change and align brakes, change brake cables, and true a bike wheel. In two visits I got my bike running just as I want it to and it cost me less than $ 40 (for the work it needed, that’s amazing).
Some of the volunteers there can be really cool and patient (which was the case with my first visit), and some can sort of be dicks (i.e. my second visit), which is the only reason I don’t give this place 5 stars. Still, for what it is and what you get out of it, Bike Oven is well-​worth checking out.

This is a great resource for all cyclists. It’s one thing to ride a bike around LA, but it’s completely another story to have to maintain and repair your bike. Here’s where the volunteers of The Bike Oven come in.
I brought my vintage mixte in, after experiencing a weird, creaking noise on a 35 mile bike ride. A little research on
, it seemed I had a bottom bracket problem. But I had no tools, no bike stand, nor no knowledge of how to fix it.
The volunteers at The Bike Oven welcomed me (in their own craggy way), and set my bike up on a stand. I set about removing the pedals and digging my fingers into the greasy-​laden bottom bracket. I also learned to replace the inner tube of my rear tire, which was something I’d been intimidated to do, but knew I’d better figure out (it’s like Bicycle 101) in case of a flat. Every question, every step of the way, a volunteer or a member of the biking community helped me and, after two hours ($ 10), when I was finished, I rode my bike around the block just to be sure.
Now, my mixte rides so smooth, with no odd noises… in fact, no noises at all. I am so grateful for the folks at The Bike Oven — thank you for empowering us bicyclists and teaching us newbies to take better care of our bikes!

LA + Bike = *sigh*
It has been tough moving out here and trying to keep the dream I once embraced in NYC a live: «to ride almost everywhere, in almost any kind of weather.» Oh those where the days, back in the Summer of 2011.
Since moving here is become more like «You can get killed almost anywhere, in anyway, in only one type of weather.» Having to change my tires and reenforce parts of my bike has become an every other week thing, whereas in NYC, it was an every few months thing. *sigh*
Out of necessity it become obvious to me that I need to learn how to fix my bike myself and that is where The Bike Oven comes in. They have classes and events on how to change certain parts of your bike. You can also walk in whenever, pay the $ 5 donation and have someone walk you personally though how to fix certain parts of your bike.
Its pretty liberating to learn how to fix certain parts myself, as well as money saving. I’ve been on a small break since last riding my bike. On my way to work a woman chased me down a nice chunk of Chinatown unknowingly while she blew her nose, then she laughed at me after realizing what she had done. (I would have gotten her license, but I was kinda worn out from all the screaming, crying and debating if I should just throw myself onto the sidewalk to save myself) So when my perfectly good tire got a flat after riding over the oh so wonderful glass, dirt and rocks that cover the streets of LA. I decided that my bike and I needed to be just friends for a little while.
I will be back on my bike again though, and when that happens I will come here to expand my knowledge of how to keep putting my bike back together in LA. Its nice to see other people in LA taking back the streets and trying to move forward with a progressive method of transportation. Thank you Bike Oven.

these guys are incredibly sassy and generally have a bad attitude.
that being said when they start to get to know you and you’ve used the shop a handful of times you realize/​feel that you should be a total (affectionate)dick to anyone that comes in that you don’t recognize. Once the dickishness wears off you feel the love and you wnat to come in there all the time. I (un)fortuntley ride my mt. bike really hard and thus crash often and thus need to be in there all the time.
mostly it’s kids with street bikes and fixed gear rides (which I am confident is the most retarded way to set up a road bike) that come in there but generally they’re young and you realize that it’s wonderful that they have a bike because it’s the gate way into being fit and not polluting and generally makes you a lot cooler than people who don’t have any stamina, if you know what I mean…
So if you didn’t know the whole point of this punk rock commie shop is to make you aware of your own ability to do things for yourself aka work on your bike. They teach you (kind of), then watch you struggle, and finally they watch you learn. You then do the same for others.
It’s actually a really beautiful circle.
ok ok, please don’t come in here we will degrade you and it’s already to full as it is.
Tips/​Donations are appreciated

I am new to LA, just moved from SF recently and was looking for a new DIY shop to access a dérailleur hanger straightener gauge. It’s one of the only tools I do not own to work on my bikes. So before I could order that tool I decided to visit this shop and do it myself.
After I arrived, I was greeted nice enough, so far so good. I put my bike up it the rack, I immediately got a patronizing and slightly condescending remark from one individual about what I was doing (straightening a dérailleur hanger on a carbon frame). I remarked that a previous (carbon specialized) shop mechanic endorsed and did the same procedure AND I had already researched the particular task regarding the safety of this exact task thoroughly. Even still I was told with an «over-​the-​shoulder» comment, «You’ll eventually find out» if it will break your frame, inferring that I was wrong still AND about 10 minutes later I was told «You should just get a chromoly frame» which is rude and basically a negative remark about my choice of bike frame. I even politely asked for his advice to see if his method made more sense and he had none to offer. It’s as is for some reason a slightly misaligned dérailleur hanger renders a carbon frame null and void. Carbon frames today are designed to comply with all standard repair torques within reasonable and proper forces. Adjusting dérailleur hangers can only really be adjusted on the bike with the wheel in just like every other bike. A small misalignment permits adjustment. A totally bent hangar requires a replacement — simple. As far as «getting a steel bike instead», all bike frame materials work well for their particular purpose and I already have a steel frame bike. I just so happen to be working on my race bike today.
First, do not assume that someone using the shop is a novice. I have been biking for over 25 years, rebuilt and restored all sorts of bikes and worked in a shop myself. I didn’t think I needed to reveal my life story upon entrance. It’s a shop not a beginner’s class.
Second, telling someone to buy a different frame (material) because you don’t understand the physics or purpose of carbon is unnecessary. There’s a reason why every bike in the Tour de France is carbon; it’s one of the best race frame materials. Attitude is the one thing that makes me really detest and avoid certain shops. My bike’s either too nice or not nice enough when I roll it into some shops. Why? Who cares? It’s my bike not yours.
I still support local DIY shops and am aware that my experience is per the individual (two other shop guys were pretty nice guys), but there is a more respectful manner to conduct discourse with your customers and maintain a community of diverse bikers in a city jammed full of cars and no bike lanes. One’s particular preference is just that, not everyone else’s.
Not so ironically, I managed to roll home with a perfectly operating bike which shifted perfectly and exactly as I intended from a few gently tweaks.
I still highly recommend the shop, but some people need to watch how they interact with customers and haphazardly push their opinions which, unbeknownst to them, are kinda offensive. 2 stars for the attitude and 5 stars for the shop in general.

My boyfriend has come here on numerous occasions to work on our bikes, but last week was my first time going along with him. Honestly I’ve never held a tool before and don’t really know a wrench from, well, anything else so I was a little nervous.
I believe the person assisting us was named Andy, and he was super patient and helpful. We fixed whatever it was that needed fixing. My front wheel needed to be aligned, I believe, and it is now just fine. I feel like I have a better understanding of how my bike works since I got to take some of it apart, clean the bits, grease them and help put them back on. I went on a weekday and it wasn’t busy. It’s super close to the Cypress Park Gold Line station so that makes this place way easy to get to/​from.