Build a Bike Workshop – a great experience

Since I started cycling 4 years ago, I have been trying to figure out a way to learn more about my bike so I will not be so fearful when I am riding on my own. Watching YouTube videos has not met my needs. I needed “hands on” learning. I approached a couple of bike shops about “apprenticing”. – one in MD and one when I arrived in Nashville and both said NO. However the one in Nashville recommended a Build a Bike Workshop for adults at the Oasis Center http://www.oasisbikeworkshop.org. I contacted the person in charge immediately but as we were still in midst of pandemic he was not holding workshops.

He restarted the Adult Workshop in September and it ran Thursday evenings, 530-8PM for 6 weeks. It was held in the basement of the Oasis Center and the workshop was set up with 8 stands for bikes. My class had 7 people. The primary build a bike program is for middle school children to build a bike that they keep. The Oasis Center has at least a thousand bikes that have been donated for this purpose. They are now set up to take the youth program to the schools.

The Adult program is a fundraiser for the youth program. I mistakenly thought we built a bike and then gave it to a youth, but adults build a bike and take it home. I don’t need another bike so I decided to build one for my daughter-in-law who does not have a bike.

The first session we got this picture that I thought was awesome. We used the same curriculum that the Youth use.

I was able to take my daughter-in-law over to pick out a bike and she chose a retro road bike.

We didn’t build a bike from scratch but rather learned about key components of the bike – deconstructed, inspected, cleaned and put back together. If any part needed to be replaced or upgraded we had donated parts or “took” from other donated bikes. On session 2 it was determined the wheels on the selected bike needed to be replaced and it turned out that the appropriate size wheels would come from a bike that was a better so I swapped bikes to this Peugot. This bike had been well maintained so there was not really anything that needed to be replaced.

It was quickly clear why bike shops were not interested in having someone
apprentice. There are so many nuances and different tools for various parts of the bike. After doing the class once, I think I can manage my tires and most other things I could manage with with YouTube videos – assuming I have the right tools for the problem.

In my new stress-free life, I found myself feeling a bit of stress some weeks with some of the tasks. I have a lot of respect for the skill it would take to build a wheel from scratch – just trying to “true” the wheels made me sweat.

The 6th week was graduation where we all rode our bikes to a brewery about 2 miles away and had a beer.

And I am now a Junior Master Mechanic – the same certificate the youth get when they finished the program. I would absolutely do this program again, but will need to find someone to build the bike for.