Bloomington Community Bike Project volunteer Daniel Frank said he wants people to know that bike maintenance doesn’t have to be intimidating.
“There’s a kind of barrier for some people with mechanical stuff,” he said. “They just have the natural inclination that they’re not good at it, so they are afraid to try because they don’t want to mess anything up. We want to try to persuade people that it’s not that scary.”
The Bike Project, a volunteer-run cooperative shop where people can buy or repair bikes, plans to offer workshops for people to learn introductory, intermediate and advanced bike mechanics.
The Bike Project offered its first workshop on repairing tires April 8. Franksaid while the turnout was low, he hopes to have another class on the topic in the future.
The volunteers are still in the process of planning future classes, which will cover basic skills, like patching tubes, and more advanced skills, like repairing hubs.
People can also donate their bikes to the shop or use the “Earn-a-Bike” program, which allows people to earn a bike for free after three hours of volunteering and repairing their bike.
James Lee, an IU master’s student in geological sciences, said he often worked on bike maintenance at his home in Taiwan, but he does not own his own tools in Bloomington.
He said he likes that the Bike Project provides a space for bike repair.
“You get access to all the bikes and tools here, so that’s nice,” Lee said. “It’s nice to tear things apart.”
Volunteer Andrea Avena-Koenigsberger said the shop can be overwhelming for people who are new to bike mechanics. Because the Bike Project is entirely run by volunteers, no one is really in charge, so people are not always sure to whom to turn for help.
She said she wants the classes to make people feel more comfortable using the Bike Project’s resources.
“We thought with the classes, people who are looking for a little bit more structure and do not know anything about fixing a bike or anything about tools would feel a little bit more secure,” she said.
Frank said basic bike mechanics are important for bicycle enthusiasts and he wants to encourage more people to learn.
“There are a lot of cyclists I know who ride, and even race, who don’t know how to change a tire,” Frank said.
Avena-Koenigsberger said the Bike Project is a great resource for Bloomington residents, since their services are free and they sell bikes at affordable prices.
“If you rely on your bicycle to go to work everyday, and you have a flat tire and you don’t know how to fix it or you don’t have the money to fix it, you can just walk into the Bike Project, and for free you can get a part and someone will help you fix it,” she said.
