Maintenance Classes

Maintenance Classes

Maintenance classes are often offered as part of supporting the local biking community. Classes may be offered to the community, to new volunteers to help them learn how to assist shop patrons or as part of a "Earn-a-bike" program. Community bike shop patrons often have little or no mechanical training and may need to be taught some nomenclature including tool names, basic tool use & shop safety, standard machine threading, etc. The emphasis is on maintenance, not troubleshooting and repair. Some cooperatives charge for their classes.

Classes may be "hands-on", "show-and-tell" or a combination. Hands on classes typically take longer, often use a patron's own bike, and generally are best offered with a smaller class size.

Classes may be a single session or run over several periods.

Classes may be:

Basic

Basic classes may cover only safety related items such as brakes and tires/tubes or may also cover cables, chain, derailleur and shifters. Some basic classes may include basic trail-side repairs.

Advanced

Advanced classes often cover components with bearings; wheel axles, headsets, and bottom brackets.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive classes often cover all maintenance tasks and may include some troubleshooting, replacement of group components, and special tool use such as headset bearing race replacement, rear derailleur hanger alignment, etc.

Some sample syllabuses
VéloCity Bicycle Cooperative Basic Class