From a Cargo Trike to Three Shipping Containers.

In 2007, Joe Nunn hauled 500 kilograms of tools, supplies, and shelter to Prince's Island Park using a modified cargo tricycle and a custom-made trailer. Three mornings a week, the former Torontonian would pedal his gypsy caravan from Sunnyside to a patch of grass by the LRT bridge, spend an hour setting up his tent, workbench, and tool wall, then wait for Calgary's cyclists to find him. They did.

Named after Frank Zappa's 1979 mini-rock opera, Joe's Garage was unlike anything Calgary had seen. Joe gave courtesy tutorials on adjusting brakes and derailleurs, offered a sliding pay scale for students, and provided tools for free. As Swerve Magazine put it: "Bikes are the great equalizer. Everybody has one."

By 2011, Joe had graduated from pedal power to a modified 1981 GMC-Grumman Kurbmaster. A step van with a fold-down deck, a checkerboard floor, and every tool a bike mechanic could need. The truck gave him a real workshop: a drill press, a truing stand, and shelter from Calgary's weather.

Media started noticing. The Calgary Herald found Joe's Garage in its "sweet spot in Eau Claire." CTV showed up in 2015 to film Bow River pathway cyclists lining up for the mobile repair shop. Joe was no longer just a bike mechanic. He was becoming a Calgary institution.

In 2019, a steel shipping container arrived by crane. Painted by local artist @LEMERMEYER with bold red, blue, and yellow murals, it became Joe's first truly permanent shop, equipped with a propane heater for winter, a full tool wall, and room for the growing rental fleet.

Avenue Magazine profiled Joe in 2021, calling it "the Calgary bike repair shop in a shipping container." Today it's actually three connected containers on the Bow River pathway, southeast of the Louise Bridge. A proper shop where you can book a rental online and ride away in minutes.

Joe's Garage has never been just about bikes. It's about the people who ride them. Families renting cruisers for a Saturday on the pathway, commuters who need a flat fixed before work, kids learning to ride. It's about the community that's grown around a shipping container on the Bow River.

Over the years, Joe has partnered with the Bicycle Film Festival, tuned bikes for Matrix Solutions employees, and become a fixture of Calgary's cycling culture. No fancy storefront needed. Just 30+ years of experience, right where the city rides.