After some experimenting, I feel we've arrived at a pretty good curriculum for our Earn-a-Bikers. We call our program Wrench and Ride, partly because we don't exactly feel like framing it in terms of the kids "earning" the bikes - bikes are *almost* a fundamental right in industrial society, like food and shelter. It's an educational experience that happens to also get bikes to youth that need them, one that every kid "deserves".
We used to do a bunch of instruction before kids ever got working on their bikes. So, we'd do four days (two hours each) of instruction, then choose bikes, then work on them for three days, and do a bike ride on the last day. While working on bikes, every kid would be doing a different thing, and with only a couple instructors, it was quite chaotic and not very good for anyone, even with a class size of only 8-10 youth.
They key change we've made is keeping everyone on the same task, and to keep them interested by tying instruction in with their own bikes.
We've refined it so that we do one day of introducing the shop and program, talking about why biking is great, and talking about bike safety (we might move the bike safety part to the second to last day, but that's where we have it for now). The second day, we talk about bike anatomy, bicycle types, tips for choosing a good bike, discuss shop safety issues, and an intro to lefty loosey/righty tighty and the concept of leverage. That same day, everyone chooses their bike. Before the class, we separate all the appropriate bikes and put them on our back patio, making sure there are at least three more bikes than there are youth. We then draw names at random out of a box and, one by one, each kid chooses their (unrepaired) bike (with the help of an instructor) and puts their repair tag on it. If there is time left, everyone can start by inspecting their frame and fork, and possibly doing one more item on the list.
Again: everyone stays on the same subject/repair aspect at the same time. For instance, before inspecting frames, we explain what to look for, then we double check things with them, and no one moves onto the next item until everyone is done. If someone finishes early, they can help someone next to them, or observe what's going on with someone else (we try to make sure every kid is focused on someone's bike). When we get to checking tires and tubes, we talk about what they need to know, then everyone proceeds to work on that part of their bike, and so on. For those people whose bike requires extra work, we use it as an instruction opportunity for everyone who is finished with their own bike, who can gather around and see what's going on. In the event that it's an inappropriately time consuming or difficult repair, we leave that for later (or for a volunteer mechanic to fix outside of Wrench and Ride hours). I would say that, in general, it's not so important for kids to fully learn how to do bearing overhauls on their own. They can learn the general concept, but we're not looking to train bike mechanics, we're looking to give kids the skills they need to use bikes regularly. Bearing overhauls *can* be confusing and time consuming, and in many cases cut into kids' enthusiasm. So, we let many of the bearing overhauls and other challenging repairs (like shifter lubrication) get left for (adultish) volunteer mechanics. And, no, not every bearing needs an overhaul! Do what you can.
So, instruction is tied in directly with kids' own bikes. If we have them work on other "sample" bikes, wheels, tires, or whatever, they are highly prone to not care, and therefore not learn.
The last day, we hand out helmets and lights, review group riding/traffic safety info, then go on a short (4 miles max) bike ride, we then return to hand out certificates and locks. Parents should be there to pick up kids and bikes...
In total, this can span 6-8 days (weeks) of instruction.
5th grade and younger is usually too young for this type of mechanically intensive program, the younger kids aren't going to digest much of the mechanical tomfoolery. I've had several 6th graders do the program and that seemed borderline. Elementary students' instruction should focus mainly on bike safety and riding around and having fun, in my opinion.
- Paul
The Bicycle Tree
shop: (714) 760-4681
811 N. Main St.
Santa Ana, CA 92701
info@thebicycletree.org
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2015 22:20:38 -0500
From: emailmyremail@gmail.com
To: thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] How much time spent on overhauls?
We give our students at least 10 hours to work on their bikes. How much time is in your EAB program?
On Tue, Jul 7, 2015 at 7:12 PM, DancesWithCars <danceswithcars@gmail.com> wrote:
What kind of service do they do if they don't work on their own earn a bike?
On Jul 7, 2015 1:09 PM, <DCoppley@intercitytransit.com> wrote:____________________________________Greetings fellow bicycle enthusiasts and all-around do-gooders,
We run an earn-a-bike program, though in our program, which is relatively short in duration, the students receive a used bike which has already been reconditioned. Consequently, I am currently overhauling/refurbishing bikes for use in our fall classes.
My question is… how long (# of hrs) do you typically spend on a complete bicycle overhaul? What does it include? Do you always put in new cables/housing, and do BB/headset/hub rebuilds, or just on the extra crunchy bikes?
Thanks in advance,
David
David Coppley
Walk n’ Roll Program Assistant
Intercity Transit
PO Box 659 Olympia, WA 98501
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