How To:

01 WHO WE ARE

The Freischrauber* bicycle kitchen is a community based DIY (Do-It-Yourself) bicycle workshop, a place open to everyone to fix or improve their bikes. We believe in the social, economic and environmental benefits of cycling, especially in dense urban areas and cities, and we’re trying to promote and support the growing bike culture which we see ourselves being a part of. We hope that by teaching people to re-use, re-cycle and develop general maintenance skills, we might also be able to encourage them to question today’s throwaway-society, and realize the importance of social and environmental sustainability.

02 WHAT WE DO / THE SHOP

We run drop-in sessions every Tuesday and Wednesday from 17:00 — 21:00 during which we provide the tools and knowledge necessary for you to fix your bike and give you a helping hand if needed. There’s also a FLINTA* Session every first Thursday of the month. The Freischrauber*-staff‘s knowledge and repair skills are varying from person to person. What unites us is the will to help, to learn — and our love for bikes. Due to the high demand there might not always be a staff-member present to help you at once, and sometimes the staff members present might not have the knowledge required to help you with your bike right away. In these cases you might have to wait a little while until a staff member with the required skills is ready to help. Ideally, you pass the time by interacting with other guests and help if and where you can. The Freischrauber* workshop should be a place where people help, work and learn from each other.

It goes without saying, that any form of discrimination or disrespectful behavior amongst guests or staff has no place at the workshop. If you experience inappropriate behavior or feel hard done-by, please feel free to talk to us about it. You can also leave a note at our »critic box« inside the shop if you prefer to stay anonymous.

03 IS IT FREE?

The Freischrauber* are a volunteer run, non-profit organization. Our staff is not getting financially compensated for their work and the little money we collect through donations is directly going back into the project. It is important to us, that the workshop remains open and accessible to people without / or with little money and we‘re generally trying to choose concepts of solidarity over economic ones. Consequently, we do not charge anything for our work and the services provided can generally be viewed as »free«. We do however, have to charge you for certain bicycle parts (break shoes, gear and break cables) that cannot be repaired or used twice. We get these parts for wholesale prices from local bike shops and charge you only what we had to pay for it ourselves . Still, generally, money should only play a minor role (if at all) at the workshop.

Nevertheless, we depend on donations to keep the workshop up and running and even though it is not mandatory to donate we‘re glad if you do. Donations can be made in form of money, but we‘re also happy about contributions in kind (spare parts, old bikes, tools, et cetera). You decide yourself what you think fit. And if you‘re not in a position to make a donation –– well, then don‘t.

04 CAN I GET TOOLS?

We have the right tools for almost every bike-related problem. Some tools (marked with a green label) are for specific purposes only and might need a short briefing or instruction by our staff. Please ask first before you use these tools –– unless you know exactly what you‘re doing.

05 CAN I GET SPARE PARTS?

If parts of your bike are unrepairable and need to be replaced, we have have a pool of spare parts that you can choose from. Still, not all bike-parts in the shop are free to use, so please ask the staff first before you take anything. Our pool is reserved for people who come to the shop to repair their bikes. We will not give away parts to people who are not working on their bikes at the shop.

06 CAN I GET A BICYCLE?

We often get used bicycles as donations. Depending on the condition, we’re chopping these bikes for spare parts or give them away to people in need. Whether we can give you a bike or not, and how many bikes we can give away at a time, depends on how many bikes we’re currently having in stock and the condition they are in. We’re also limiting the number of bikes we’re giving out when we feel that due to the high demand constructive work at the shop would not be possible anymore. So even though we basically give out bikes, there is always a chance that you won’t get one right away.

All the bikes need fixing and all repairs have to be done by you at the workshop. We do not give away bikes that are not deemed roadworthy. All bikes have to have functioning lights and breaks. Only after you have finished all the necessary repairs and the bike has been checked by our staff will you get a bike-pass and the bike will be yours to keep.

07 CAN I LEAVE MY BIKE WITH THE FREISCHRAUBER*?

If you don’t succeed in repairing your bike in one day, there’s the possibility of leaving it with us and finish it at the next shift. In this case we will register the bike and then you can leave it in our back yard. If this option is available to you depends on how much space is currently free in the yard. You’re leaving your bike at your own risk and we recommend locking it up if you can.