Take the mystery out of your bicycle. We’ll take you from one end of your bike to the other, pulling everything apart, servicing it, and putting it back together. You’ll do this work under our guidance, ideally on your own bike, and at the end of it, you’ll have a bike that works much better than it did when you started, and you’ll know how to keep it that way.

 

Bicycles are simple mechanical devices, designed to get you efficiently from A to B. The shape of a bike hasn’t changed much in 100 years, but the way they are put together has: modern bikes are much easier to work on than they used to be.We will cover all kinds of bikes, including road bikes, mountain bikes, retro bikes and fixies. We’ll show you how all the different systems work, and why some bikes are better than others.

 

 

Other information

You will work in arguably the best bike workshop in Melbourne,

with a small group of students and usually two instructors

(depending on numbers). The workshop has professional bike

stands, each one with it’s own set of tools. There are more

advanced tools in the workshop, and we have a good stock

of new and secondhand parts. If we don’t have the part you

need we can order it in for the next week.

No prior knowledge of bikes is required for the course.

Sessions will run from 7pm for 3 hours. Come at 6:45 the

first week for introductions and set up. You should wear

clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty, and closed shoes.

 We have a break in the middle, tea is provided. I’ll provide a

snack the first week, then we’ll do a roster for the subsequent

weeks. In the winter it can be a little cold, so rug up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COURSE AGENDA

Learn all about bicycle maintenance from the experts. After the 6 weeks, you will have serviced most parts of your bike, and be familiar with how it all comes apart and goes back together. You are encouraged to bring your own bike to work on. We will cover all kinds of bikes, including road bikes, mountain bikes, retro bikes and fixies.

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Week 1 Tools, Bike assessment, changing wheels and fixing punctures

Learn about the various tools that are used on a bike, and how to identify problems with a bike. You will then proceed with puncture repair. Fixing the puncture is usually the easy part, we show you how to remove and refit wheels and tyres/tubes in the process, and show you some tricks to make it easy.

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Week 2 Brakes

Learn about the different types of brakes, and how effective they are. Learn about how to clean and service your brakes, deal with problems like squeaking and grinding, and keep them stopping smoothly and safely. Learn to check that your wheels are not buckled, and are mounted in the frame properly (to prevent your brakes rubbing)

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Week 3 Gears – cleaning

Chains and gears get dirty. You will get dirty too this week. Don’t worry, you can wear an apron and gloves or we have some industrial hand cleaner to help with cleanup. We will cover the process of removing and refitting your chain (including adding a split link, cleaning your cassette, jockey wheels, front cogs.

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Week 4 Gears – cables and adjustment

Badly adjusted gears are probably the most common/annoying problem on a bike, and one of the reasons why fixies have become popular. We will show you the causes of these problems, and how to fix them. It is easy to make your gear changes smooth once you know how it works.

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Week 5 Wheels and Wheel bearings

Learn about the different kinds of wheels and wheel bearings, and how to service them. We will show you how to remove your cluster/cassette to gain access to the bearings, how to check for wear, and how to replace cones and balls, or simply clean and re-grease them. Your wheels should spin nicely after this class!

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Week 6 Steering and forks

Learn about a variety of steering mechanisms and forks, how to take them apart and service them, as well as how to re-assemble and adjust them.We’ll show you how to remove your bottom bracket and either service or replace that. This week we can also go over anything that you would like from previous sessions, or even something we have not covered.

 

More useful information

• Can’t make all the sessions? Don’t worry, you can catch up that lesson on the next course we do

• Missed the start of the course? You can start any week, and just keep going, until you have completed all 6 units

• Only want one or two lessons? No probs, it’s $80 per lesson for individual lessons

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LOCATION 

VENUE:   525 WILLIAMSTOWN ROAD

 

Venue Phone: 0438 002 921

Address:

525 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, Victoria, 3207

 

 

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