‘Mr. Fix a Flat’

Kiwone Moore is Robinwood’s one-stop shop for bicycle repairs

Kiwone Moore, left, who goes by the name “Mr. Fix A Flat,” has become a neighborhood hero to the kids in his Robinwood community, fixing their bikes and repairing donated bikes to give to kids who don’t have one. With Moore is his partner, Destiny Dale. Paul W. Gillespie/Staff Photos

Darrian Jackson, 7, waits as Kiwone Moore works on his bike.

After witnessing his son fend off a bully, Kiwone Moore, a Robinwood resident, decided to fix a bike for him. Seeing old bikes on the sidewalk, he came up with the idea over the summer to take them, fix them and give them to the kids in the area.

The 27-year-old fixed up bikes for two of his five children, the word spread and neighborhood kids started showing up at his door asking for help with their bikes. Moore said he realized many kids in his public housing community didn’t ride bikes and were “walking up and down the street looking for something to do.”

As his reputation grew, he dubbed himself “Mr. Fix a Flat.”

“Before the bike situation, the kids would fight each other,” said Destiny Dale, Moore’s girlfriend. “It was bad. That’s another reason why, he was like, ‘They need something to do.’”

Now, he sees packs of children riding bikes he fixed or donated in the neighborhood. Since he doesn’t know where most of the kids live, he often sits on his front porch and waits after getting off work at CFG Bank Arena.

“[The kids] wait for him to get off from work, like they already at the house waiting for him before he even gets off from work,” said Jasmine Henson, who lives across the street from Moore. Henson received a bike for her son and is currently waiting for Moore to put training wheels on it.

“He’s doing a great thing for the kids because a lot of kids like, where we live is low income, so a lot of people can’t afford to get their kid a bike. So I just think that it’s a good thing that he’s doing it for the kids and they can enjoy life too,” she said. “Because what little kid doesn’t want to bike.”

Rebecca Britt, a Ward 7 resident, heard about Mr. Fix a Flat when a bike was advertised in a Facebook group. As someone who also rides a bike, Britt’s granddaughter wanted to join her. When she saw the bike listing, she decided to respond. Now, Britt is looking to install some training wheels on the bike so that they can eventually ride bike trails together.

“Kids need to get out[side] and get a lot exercise and physical activity,” she said.

Moore has fixed at least 15 bikes in the last month. The work he does is about giving kids “something to do” but it’s also about building relationships, he said. Eventually, he wants to put on a community bike riding event.

“It’s to a point where if I can go to the next community and build a relationship with them too, show them guidance, certain stuff and certain skills, or whatever the case may be, then they would have the certain stuff that they need as they get older,” he said.