Rant: cheap housing vs actual workspace, I made the wrong call

I had to pick between renting a bigger apartment near downtown that cost $1,200 a month or keeping my tiny garage space here in Denver for $400 and using the difference to build out my bike shop at a co-op. I went with the smaller place thinking I could just work in the co-op's shared area on weekends. Big mistake. After 3 months, I realized the co-op tools were always beat up, the stand wobbles like crazy, and I lost track of a customer's vintage Cannondale because someone else messed with the derailleur. I spent way more time fixing other people's messes than doing actual work. Now I'm stuck in a lease till January with no proper bench space. Anyone else here deal with choosing between cheap rent and a decent shop setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

foster.charles25d ago

Gotta disagree with you here man. I've been running a shop out of a shared space for two years now and it's all about picking the right co-op, not the concept. The place I'm at has a posted sign-up sheet for the stand and folks get booted if they leave a mess. Sounds like you picked a bad co-op, not a bad deal. Saving $800 a month for a year is $9,600. That buys a lot of your own tools and a bench you could set up in a corner. Maybe try talking to the co-op manager about stricter rules before you write off the whole idea.

troythompson24d ago

That $9,600 math only works if the co-op actually lets you work without babysitting their gear, @foster.charles, and mine clearly didn't.