West Town Bikes is hosting bike mechanic workshops for women and trans folk, what a way to kick off the new year! There are two sessions left that you can sign up for, each one is three consecutive Sundays from 10am-1pm at 2459 West Division Street Chicago, Ciclo Urbano/ West Town Bikes. From Mia Moore, the contact and person who will be conducting the workshops:
I am teaching these classes because I think it’s important and empowering to have a comfortable space in a traditionally hetero-male dominated environment for women and trans folks to learn basic bicycle mechanics skills. I have been a mechanic for five years, and feel it is part of my job to pass on the knowledge I have learned to other women and people in a non-biased setting.
The large workshop space at West Town Bikes has 8 bicycle repair stands and sets of tools, so all the work will be hands on using one’s own bicycle.
The only pre-requisite for the class is to have a bicycle. I don’t expect any other mechanical knowledge. We will start the first class by learning the correct names of all the parts of the bicycle, and the names and uses of all the basic bicycle repair tools. Then we will learn how to fix a flat tire, and how to adjust brakes.
In the second class, we will replace the cables on the front and rear brakes and both derailleurs. This will include a lesson on how all the shifting mechanisms of a bicycle work, and how to adjust them.
In the last class, we will learn how to true wheels.
any interested folks should email me at: ciclourbanochicago(((@)))gmail.com
The next workshop starts on January 31st, and the last session on February 21st.
