I also second all those who said a) do it yourself and learn and b) take advantage of your local bike co-op. I was a late bloomer too (didn't have a bike as a kid, learned when I was ~24), and just this summer decided to completely disassemble my charity sale beater bike and repaint. I've since bought a new one, but learned enough during the build process that I can do my own maintenance now. There's a free bike shop where I work (at a university) and going there was the best thing I did. The staff supervised while I did my own work, and I got to use all their tools (and knowledge) for free.