ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the gender issues present in practices of bicycle repair and maintenance, which are central to the acquisition of ‘velonomy’, or autonomy with the bicycle. Following Young (1980), it argues that the bodily experiences of women placed in the patriarchal environment of bicycle repair and maintenance inhibit their willingness to experiment and learn. Drawing on a survey and interviews with female cyclists and bicycle mechanics in Lyon and Melbourne, this chapter characterises this patriarchal environment and dwells on the ‘feminine velonomy’ it produces, as well as on different strategies developed by women to assess their legitimacy in repair and maintenance spaces.
