This is a repost from FastCompany:

Bike Fixtation: The Bike Repair Vending Machine That Sells Parts, Tools And Snacks

BY Morgan ClendanielToday

Say goodbye to bike shops. Or at least bike shops when they are closed.  Minneapolis’s Bike Fixtation will sell you the parts you need to get your bike back on the road, and gives you the tools to make your repairs right there.

It’s happened to every biker. A flat tire in an inconvient place on your commute, and the nearest bike shop is a long walk away. Most casual bikers don’t carry extra tubes or tools with them; and so any repair work on the road can mean an end to a bike ride, and potentially leaving your bike locked up somewhere slowly rusting as you forget about it in your frustration. That’s why the idea of the Bike Fixtation is so brilliant: a place for you to buy new parts and then install them yourself.

The Fixtation is really just a vending machine, but with bike parts instead of snacks (though there are some snacks in case you’re getting hungry on your ride). What makes it most convenient is the bike mount and tools–attached with aircraft cables to prevent theft–alongside the vending machine. You can replace that flat or adjust your brakes yourself without dealing with the characters who usually are employed at bike shops. Of course, you may not know how to replace a popped tube yourself; now is certainly the time to learn, so you can take full advantage of the Fixtation when it moves into your city.

Sadly, right now, only one Fixtation exists in the world, and it’s in the bike friendly Minneapolis (though a second one is also in the works in the that city). You can contact Fixtation to buy a unit, but until the company expands more broadly, bikers everywhere else will have to wait jealously for the company to take off enough to expand and give them their own Fixtations.

[Hat tip: Autoblog]

[Image: Bike Fixtation]

Morgan Clendaniel can be reached by email or on Twitter.