After a long six months absence the Pedallers Arms opened its doors on Monday.  The aim of the project is to empower people to repair their own bicycles and in the new space there are 5 workstations each with a set of tools.  There will be sessions every week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 4-8pm with each session will have a minimum of two mechanics to offer help if needed and assist the members find the right tool for the job.  The weather was at best drizzling but still the 60m2 of warehouse on Mabgate Green was full.  Other Northern Bike projects include Recyke-Y-Bike (in Newcastle), Pedal MCR (in Manchester), I Bike Shefield.

The Pedallers Arms hopes that letting people get mucky with their own bikes will give them confidence that they can fix things.  The bike world can sometimes be dominated with rich boys playing with expensive bikes.  Pedallers Arms is promoting cycling as a cheap transport and so people are not looked down on by not knowing how to use a spanner or having a cheap bike.  There are also second-hand parts available for a low price making repairs more affordable.  Also to address the gender imbalance on the third Sunday of the month there are women and trans sessions.  The project is vounteer run and funded by donations.

The Pedallers Arms moved into the space 2 weeks ago and since then there has been lots of activity building a workbench, wheel store, counter and a beautiful sign.  Soon after opening all the stands were filled with wet cyclists repairing bikes then after the bike repair was over for the opening night only there was some cake and ale.