This area is intended to act as a repository and gateway for information on bicycle maintenance. Please do let us know if you have any suggestions of things to add.
Newsletter articles
There have been a number of very useful and often quite substantial articles in our newsletters.
Click here for our ‘thread’ of newsletter articles on bicycle maintenance.
Maintenance courses
There are several maintenance courses run regularly in Cambridge, but details change often.
- Outspoken Cycles now offer a number of cycle maintenance courses including:
- One-day courses at basic level (covering general maintenance and punctures) and intermediate level (which includes adjusting brakes, indexing gears and replacing chains and cables). The cost is £51 in 2017, including a discount of 15% to Cycling Campaign members.
- Velotech Gold is an industry recognised qualification which runs over four days covering all the major components and systems and ending in a full strip and rebuild of a bike
- Fix it Yourself – Open Workshop. Outspoken have opened up their fully equipped training workshop, giving customer access to professional workstands and their full array of of tools. Members get access to a stand, tools, grease, lube, a library of bike manuals and expert advice from one of their qualified mechanics. Membership starts from £20.
- As part of its adult education programme, Hills Road 6th Form College sometimes offers an introductory bike maintenance course. Cost £32 in 2016.
- Cambridge Regional College also offers adult classes in introductory and intermediate maintenance. £95 for five two-hour sessions.
- Cambridge Wheel Building. David Green has been teaching wheel building on 1-day workshops in Cambridge for a number of years. David tells us that “for many keen cyclists, wheel building and repair remain the final bicycle maintenance challenge that they face. There are about four workshops per year, usually on Saturdays. Teaches you to build strong reliable wheels in a small group with trainer at hand.”
Acknowledgements to Outspoken for the header image.
Other articles and items of interest
- [No title] (start of thread)
- (S)Light disagreement (Newsletter 22: February 1999)
- Make your own cheap, bright headlight (Newsletter 20: October 1998)
- A good second-hand bike? (Newsletter 36: June/July 2001)
- Fix your own bike (Newsletter 131: April - May 2017)
- Zen and the art of bicycle maintenance (Newsletter 133: August - September 2017)