Alumnus teaches students bike mechanics
Broken bike? You’re in luck!
Every Tuesday and Thursday from 6-7 p.m., Earlham’s bicycle co-op offers classes on bicycle mechanics.
The classes are led by Chris Craig, a 1999 Earlham College graduate and Richmond native. He now works at Ike’s Bikes and has been helping with classes for four years.
The classes are designed to appeal to students of all skill levels, and Craig tries to focus on a new issue each class. Students who can barely fix a flat tire are just as welcome as others with more advanced skills.
“This event will hopefully get more people involved,” said sophomore Katie Laushman, convenor of the bike co-op. “The problem with the bike co-op right now is that the majority of people [involved] are seniors.”
Laushman also hopes that this year’s mechanics classes will have a more solid attendance than last semester’s, which did not see many participants. Laushman added that she has heard from more people about this semester’s classes than in the past.
During the first class last Tuesday, Craig introduced students to the fundamentals of how to maintain a bicycle and answered a broad range of questions.
During the lesson, Craig discussed tire sizes, quipping that one might magically deduce them by reading the writing on the tires. Craig also stressed that fitting the right tire size to the right rim diameter is important, noting that a failure to do so would most likely lead to a wreck.
The audience seemed to appreciate Craig’s lighthearted approach to teaching classes, frequently laughing at his jokes.
Several of the attending students also got the chance to learn about pumps by taking them apart, reversing their components, and modifying them to fit different kinds of valves. Craig also spoke about upcoming classes, saying that they would cover bike security, and the removal and replacement of wheels.
During his demonstrations, Craig displayed one of his own bicycles: a Schwinn Caliente. In addition to this bike, he currently owns over a dozen other bicycles, including his prized BMX.
Craig expressed enthusiasm for hosting the classes.
“I’m just glad it’s here for people who like bikes,” he said.
One student at the class last Tuesday, freshman Emily Wilson, wants to learn bicycle repair and maintenance skills for a program called “Bike and Build,” which she hopes to go on next summer. Participants in the program raise money for Habitat for Humanity before biking across the U.S., volunteering and educating in communities along the way.
“I just thought it would be really helpful if I could figure out how bikes work,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to just ride something if I don’t know anything about it.”
Junior Sarah Matesz biked to her home in Swanton, Ohio, over Thanksgiving break.
“I had to get my bike tuned up before I went, so I went to the bike co-op,” Matesz said. “I just felt like the things they were doing were pretty simple and I should be able to do that and that if I was in a place where there wasn’t a bike co-op it would be nice to know how to take care of my own bike.”
This afternoon the Bike Coop will be having an open house that includes free food, a kiddie pool, corn hole games and a barbecue. The co-op is located at Gurney House. Interested students can contact Laushman at kmlaush08@earlham.edu for more information.
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