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Curriculum

Day 1 : Flat Repair

Bicycle Anatomy

Frame tubes
Components
Brief quiz

Basic Chain Maintenance

Types of Lubricants

Dry vs. Wet; describe, compare
Different types of dry: teflon, parafin, silicon, plastic
Wet on dry ok; dry on wet not ok

Lubricating vs. Cleaning

How often, how do you know when
Basic lubrication; keep it slightly glistening
Light cleaning; rinse the dirt out w/ lube
Remove, soak and scrub
Remove all solvent before lubricating

Flat Repair

Tire/Rim Anatomy

Bead; materials
Rim hook
Engagement

Types of Valves

Identification
Operation
Rim compatibility; adapter gasket
Pump compatibility

Removing Wheel

Open brake
Proper gear; reasons

Removing Tire

Use of levers
User of hands
Stubborn tire tricks
Avoid puncture
Don't user metal levers

Finding the Leak

Types of flats
Relative orientation of tire/tube
Finding leak; circle it
Checking tire

Patching

Types of patches ; glue-on, self-adhesive
Vulcanization reaction
Prepping tube, applying glue
Applying patch

Re-assembly

Installing tire
Inflation steps; proper seating
Installing wheel on bike

Day 2 : Gears

Chain Replacement

Chain Wear

Indicator tool
Stretch
Cog wear, chain rings
Behavior/interaction of worn parts; skipping, stiff link

Chain Anatomy

Plates; inner, outer
Pin; flanged ends
"Link"; actually 2 segments
Sizes; road, 10spd, BMX/Track

Chain Breaker

Basic Principle; small vice
Different sizes; road/10spd, BMX/Track
Difference between upper and lower slots; upper spreads chain, lower compresses chain
Don't push the pin out!
Breaking* one step; joining* 2 steps
How to tell when it's correct

Gears

Cable Principles

Tension/Compression
Barrel Adjusters; 'loosening' the adjuster means 'tightening' the cable; start in the middle

Shifting Principles

Friction vs. Index
Backlash and Overshift
Indixing is in the shifter, not the deraileur
Standards, manufacturers and inter-compatibility; GripShift

Deraileur Anatomy

Parallelogram, cage, pulleys
Wrap Adjust Screw; keeps jockey pulley from hitting large cog
Limit Screws; demonstrate functionality
Compare to front; position on seat tube

Exercise

Shift out of smallest chain ring
Disconnect cable, put all screws/barrel adjusters out of position
Adjust screws first; just a bit wider than perfect to allow for overshift
Connect cable and adjust tension
Adjust for other chain rings

Shifting Technique (time permitting)

Cross gearing
Reduce load; timing w/in pedal stroke
Shift when decelerating
Shift before hills

Day 3 : Brakes

Cables/Housing Types

Cable sizes, ends
Housing sizes
Housing construction, brake vs. deraileur
Housing failure modes; why shifter is unsafe for brakes
Determining correct length; short but not too short, compare to old housing

Brakes

Anatomy

Road: center-pull, single-pivot, dual-pivot
Mountain: cantilever, straddle cable; linear-pull (v-brake), noodle
Release mechanism
Center adjust screw(s)
Cartridge pads
Disc

Pad Alignment

Vertical; don't touch tire, or hang off the bottom of the rim
Rotation; toe shouldn't point up or down
Flat; surface should be parallel to rim face upon contact
Toe-in; noise

Pad Maintenance

Identify old dried out pads
Filing off lip
Metal deposits
Re-surfacing; put the file on the table

Exercise

Disconnect cable, remove pads, put barrel adjusters in middle
Replace or file pads if necessary
Re-install pads and position
Re-connect cable and adjust tension

Braking Technique

Use both
Front does most of the stopping
Shift weight back for hard braking/hills
If rear wheel locks under hard braking, ease up on front rather than rear* puts more weight on rear

Wheel Truing

Anatomy

Spokes; diameter, butting
Nipples

Tools

Stand; 3 knobs
Dish tool
Spoke wrenches; sizes

Types of Adjustment

True
Dish
Round

Basic Principle

Which way to turn nipples
Triangle geometry
Even numbers of spokes
Turn 90d at a time; be aware of spoke twist

Technique

Pick a high spot to work on
Decide where it starts and ends
Hold on to first spoke and count the rest
Make adjustments
Continue around rest of wheel before returning to the same spot

Rule #1: Avoid Cans of Worms

Cans of worms are any parts or problems with the bike that threaten to eat up unexpectedly large portions of time. It's up to your discretion to decide what you can and can't handle, but you might want to avoid the following:

Serious rim problems
Anything bent totally out of whack
Excessively pitted bearing surfaces
Cup and cone bottom brackets
Suspension systems, pedal bearings
Anything that you are not comfortable fixing or servicing
Anything for which we lack the proper tools

These problems are outside the scope of a 12-hour class, and trying to fix them is a disservice to the students and to your sanity. If you run across a can of worms, suggest that they either bring it by during open hours or take it to a local bike shop.

Post Class Follow Up

You may consider having your students fill out a survey of the class.

After you finish teaching the class, come back to this wiki page and update it with your experiences. Also, be sure to say some summarizing words on the Yahoo group because you and your co-instructor are probably the only Bike Kitchen regulars that have contact with the class.

Consider recruiting a fellow Bike Kitchen mechanic to teach the next session of the class. Tell them how fun it was!

External Maintenance

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