Believe it or not, bicycles and how they work aren’t that big of a mystery. They are a pretty wonderful machine with their equal parts grace, simplicity, and efficiency. They also continue to work for an amazing amount of time despite our best efforts to neglect and abuse them. That said, it’s astounding how much longer they work, better they ride, and easier they are to pedal when some pretty basic wrench work is done on them. Starting on Tuesday February 21st, Service Course Velo is going to offer some handy dandy bike repair classes. Why would a bike shop that specializes in doing repair work want to teach it’s customers how to do it themselves, you ask? Good question, and there are a few reasons that make up the answer, but it basically boils down to this. You’ll ride your bike more. That means you’ll be a happier person. Happier customers are never a bad thing.
“But I don’t want to work on my bike”, or “I don’t have time to”,and “that’s what the bike shop is for” you say. All true and valid points. But what if I told you that just knowing how your bike works and what is causing that funny noise or annoying click will save you time and money when you bring your bike in to get fixed? Repairs at the shop go faster when the customer has a pretty good idea of what is needed and as we all know, time is money. Plus, I never have to bug you with one of those annoying, “so when the bike was in the stand, I noticed that part XYZ is completely worn out and needs to be replaced. Oh yeah it’s expensive and I have to order it in, also” calls.
So here’s the details on the classes. There will be four of them, starting on February 21st. All of them are on Tuesday nights at 7:00pm. they will last approximately 1.5-2 hours. There will probably be some sort of refreshments, possibly of the adult nature if you are of qualifying age. There might even be snacks. Classes are $25, or $20 and a six pack. If you sign up for all four classes, I’ll throw one in on the house and you’ll only have to pay for three. Lastly, the class size is limited to ensure you get excellent, personal instruction, so you’ll need to sign up ASAP so the class isn’t full. To sign up, come in and press cold hard cash into my greasy palm. Or just give the shop a ring or shoot an email. Tomayto, tomahto.
February 21st. General repair. How to do all the daily stuff to keep your bike functioning at its best. From basics like tire pressure and lubing the chain to more advanced items such as shock and fork adjustments. We’ll learn how to check over wear items like the drivetrain and brake pads for wear and determine if they need to be replaced and if so, how soon. Along with that, we’ll discuss what happens if wear items are let go too long and how very expensive it can ultimately be.
February 28th. Disc Brakes. Both mechanical and hydraulic. We’ll have a brief discussion on how they work and the benefits and disadvantages of each type and then we’ll dive into them. Checking for pad and rotor wear, truing rotors, proper adjustments, and bleeding the hydraulic brakes.
March 6th. Wheels. Road and mountain, disc brake and rim brake, all are welcome. You’ll learn how to adjust hubs so that your wheels roll smoothly. OF course we’ll go over how to check for proper spoke tension and you’ll learn how to true wheels.
March 13th. Shifters and Derailleurs. This is pretty straight forward, but you’ll learn how to fix your bike when you click the shifter and nothing happens. Or what happens isn’t supposed to happen. Either way, by then end of the night, you’ll know all about cable tension, limit screws, guide pulleys, B-tension, and pulleys. Plus a bunch more. If you ride a single speed, feel free to drop by and show us how you shift gears by getting off and walking.































