How to work with a bike shop – will they teach me why my brake adjustment didn’t work

[rcannon100]

@ShawnoftheDread 172771 wrote:

I want to know why Bob’s adjusting his headtube.

To make it taller….. duh.

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[streetsmarts]

Right. thanks. I’m aware of that class.

definitely am not looking for a $350 class.

More like – $20 – learn to change your brake cables (The Bike House Coop – with whom I volunteered last year – teaches such a class). However, it only holds 10 people, and their classes fill up quickly. The one they posted this week filled up overnight.

I’d like to be part of a group learning/teaching such things. In DC (sorry, no longer in VA, and going out to Arlington is a trek for me).

I think other bike advocacy groups teach classes like this in other states. Found something on a google search, but lost it. Athens GA maybe? Maybe I should talk to WABA about this.

Volunteering with the Bike House, I have learned a lot while watching experienced volunteers help folks work on their own bikes. I’ve done research in their ark Tool book.

I did take a great 4 week basic maintenance course with The Bike House last year. However, things were discussed very quickly, and I didn’t get much hands-on experience.

The Phoenix Bikes class for women on adjusting shifters/derailleurs was great. Again – too far for me to go there regularly in the evening.

I will have to spend more time at Bikenetic (where I bought my bike) and other shops, and see how it goes.

And I plan to volunteer at Bike House this summer, and will pick up skills as I go.

[LhasaCM]

Classes are on hold at the moment, but Gearin’ Up Bicycles also has had (similar to Phoenix) a number of workshops for folks to pick up skills – they could be worth checking out.

As far as books go – for learning a lot of basics with lots of pictures, I’ve really liked the DK “Owner’s Manual” book (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1465459154/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The Zinn books (and Park books) are great – but for me were a bit overwhelming when I was first starting to mess around.

[LhasaCM]

@LhasaCM 172783 wrote:

Classes are on hold at the moment, but Gearin’ Up Bicycles also has had (similar to Phoenix) a number of workshops for folks to pick up skills – they could be worth checking out.

As far as books go – for learning a lot of basics with lots of pictures, I’ve really liked the DK “Owner’s Manual” book (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1465459154/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The Zinn books (and Park books) are great – but for me were a bit overwhelming when I was first starting to mess around.

Oh…and if you’d like to borrow the DK book sometime to see if it’d be helpful for you, let me know and I’m sure we can figure something out

[anomad]

@streetsmarts 172779 wrote:

More like – $20 – learn to change your brake cables (The Bike House Coop – with whom I volunteered last year – teaches such a class). However, it only holds 10 people, and their classes fill up quickly. The one they posted this week filled up overnight.

What kind of learner are you? I am a fairly slow one! haha Seriously though, I am very hands on when it comes to figuring stuff out. I’ll look at all the parts, maybe watch a video on FaceTube and give it a try. There are some excellent videos online about how to do almost anything to your bike. I like the Park Tool channel. If you’re not afraid to tinker with something and careful enough not to do anything unsafe, just dive in and figure it out. Plenty of us can help bail you out if you get stuck.

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