Classes

We run adult mechanics classes several times a year. The Basic Mechanics class meets 5 times and covers fixing a flat, adjusting brakes, derailleurs, hubs / rotational systems, and an "open" class that can include wheel truing or other topics by request.

We also offer a Wheelbuilding class, as well as an advanced mechanics class

Once every winter, Bikes Not Bombs offers a rigorous, 100-hour vocational training course for young adults hoping to gain mechanics skills for a job in the bicycle industry. For more info on this program, contact Carl Kurz at carl@bikesnotbombs.org. Unfortunately, this course is already full for 2008.

For more information and programs for young people ages 9-18, check out the Youth section of the Bikes not Bombs website.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

BASIC MECHANICS

Learn to repair your own bike! These are "basic" mechanics courses that give you the skills to do a full tune-up, plus more advanced work overhauling rotational systems. Classes cover bike fit, flats, brakes, gears, and adjustments and overhauls of hubs. The final session will allow you to pick more topics to cover (wheel truing, etc) depending on the needs of your bike.

Each course meets at Bikes Not Bombs once a week for 5 weeks, and you bring your own bike to work on and improve. The cost for a full course is $100. For this tuition, you get the knowledge AND your bike gets work that would cost nearly $100 in most shops. You need to enroll in advance - do not just show up at the first class meeting! Call or email to let us know your interest. You can mail a check, bring it by, or pay by credit card in person or over the phone - we'll reserve a space for you AFTER we receive payment.

SPANISH LANGUAGE BASIC MECHANICS

(We will be able to offer this course as soon as enough people are interested!)

We are hoping to build interest in an adult mechanic class conducted entirely in Spanish. It would be taught by Wilson Martinez, one of our head mechanics, who also has years of experience as a mechanic in the Dominican Republic. Wilson doesn't speak much English so only students with advanced Spanish skills should consider signing up - this is a great way to brush up your language skills and keep them current, while learning some new bike vocabulary! Or pass on this info to Spanish-speaking friends who might not be comfortable in an English language course.

The course content and cost would be the same as the above course. If you might be interested please email Matt Coe at mattcoe@bikesnotbombs.org with "Spanish Language Course" in the subject line, and this will help us decide whether there is enough interest to schedule it.

WHEEL BUILDING COURSE

The first session is a consultation where we’ll help you pick out and purchase hubs, rims, and spokes for your new wheelset ($60-80 for rims, $64 for spokes and $50-100 for hubs; all students receive a 10% discount on all parts bought for the class, including any tools you want for home). We’ll also cover some wheelbuilding theory and time permitting do spoke length calculations. The second session will focus on lacing both wheels. The third and fourth sessions will focus on tensioning the spokes, and lacing the second wheel. The final session will give students time to focus on finishing their wheels and to discuss other aspects of wheelbuilding.

Building a bicycle wheel is like tuning a piano - it takes care and patience and a little art to balance the tensions, and when it is in tune it is a beautiful thing! For a wheel to be perfectly round, the tension on each spoke must be adjusted and balanced, each slightly different to account for the flex response of the rim. These days most wheels are built by machines, which do a fine job, but don't have nearly the sophistication of a human set of hands and eyes. A hand-built wheel is substantially more durable and will last longer, ride smoother, and need truing less often, but they get expensive when you pay a mechanic for the labor time involved. When you can build your own wheels, you can choose the quality and type of each component (hub, spokes, and rim) and you get high-quality technology for cheap because you don't have to pay for labor! Learning to build wheels will also give you the skills to understand problems in used wheels and to true them by adjusting spoke tensions.

All classes will be held at the Bikes Bombs Not Bombs Retail Shop and Training Center located at 18 Bartlett Sq. Jamaica Plain, 02130.