Robert C

The middle school that I teach at offers mini-electives. These meet eight times over a two week period for one-half hour in each meeting. This comes out to four total hours, but it is actually less due to set-up tear-down time.

I am considering offering a Bicycle Maintenance class. I can see it definitely covering how to patch tyres. I would also have to cover safety and legal requirements. I can see it also covering chain cleaning and derailleur adjustment. I might also cover brake maintenance (the trouble here is that I never set up brakes that didn't howl).

The local Chief of the Police is trying to round up some bikes for me to use. One problem is that these mini-classes have almost no budget. I am open to any funding ideas (ideally places that are likely to make a grant). I am also open to ideas about what the class should include as topics.

I am also considering approaching Walmart to see if we can do any bike assembly for them. Has anyone successfully done that?

alcjphil

Brake maintenance is safety related while derailleur adjustment isn't, therefore I would put brakes just after tire repair

Elvo

Have the kids bring in their own bikes which everyone will take turns working on but you will ensure it works better after the class

dedhed

I think you'll find they have all types of bikes in that age group. from BMX to mountain to cruisers to hybrids and road bikes. It'd be best to try to get s variety of bikes to show different things like Disc, caliper,V brakes and how each is adjusted. Chain adjustment on a single speed to derailleur adjustments on a multispeed. Things like that.

restlessswind

Howling brakes: 2 main reasons for this.
1. setup pads with a toe-in . I use the cardboard backing of the new shoes' package as a shim to widen the rear of the shoes.
2. Oil / grease on rim surface. Thoroughly clean the rim surface with 90% isopropyl or denatured alcohol. Same goes for disc rotors. Clean again, and again. Then let it dry completely before using

Robert C

I could go for that. However, with only, at most, three kids riding bikes to school, the principal would object to the small class sizes.

Oldsledz

Seems like a half hour would not be enough time to do much.

kahn

I must not be in Kansas anymore since it is generally not spelled that way - or is it?

Maybe a local bike shop could offer a bit of money or, at least, their branded water bottles.

biker128pedal

You only have 30 minutes. How about going over bike fit. Keep it simple seat height. Using wrenches to properly tighten a seat post with a torque wrench. They could share a few wrenches. If outside they could compare the low BMX stand up to road bike sitting.

For tube repair use one class for putting a patch on a tube. Then another for just taking a tube out and putting it back. If you have adult help and more kids than wheels divide the class up for different activities under each adult(s).

SurferRosa

The way a bike works is we can lock two nuts together on a bolt. That's the way a bike works. It comes down to very basic engineering that everyone should know.

Lazyass

How many kids there actually ride bikes? My grandson just started 6th grade and a year ago I bought him a nice GT mountain bike that cost around $600. I doubt he's put five miles on it, he's addicted to video games and watching you tube videos of other people playing games. Awhile back his cousin was over playing and we were talking about bikes and he asked me what a BMX bike was, he had never heard of BMX before and I was blown away. I never see any kids riding bikes anymore. I never even see them outside playing at all.

Ryno317

I would say in the 20 mins you have. I would focus on the basic's, changing a tube, patching a tire, road safety(rules of the road), fitting a helmet. Not a lot of time to do brakes, and to give the kids time to practice doing it themselves or to tinker with a derailleur. They'll go home and start adjusting their adjustment screws and screw it up.

chaadster

Yeah, the OP isn’t going to do anything real in a 20-30 minute session.

My approach would be more theory than practice:

1. bike elements overview: naming the parts of the bicycle
2. how derailleurs work and how to use gears
3. wheels, tires: what spokes do, how to remove tire and tube
4. cleaning and lubing
5. tools and basic pre-ride check: tire inflation, seat height
6. brakes overview: simple cable adjustment
7. Safety and accessories: proper hemet fit, light placement, water bottle
8. ride challenge: parking lot skills tests for prizes, e.g. longest skid, A to B race (starting in highest gear), longest track stand

kaseyriot

most maintenance and adjustment is low cost. brake n derailleur adjustment and chain lubing for example. tire pressure as well

Robert C

Remember, eight sessions. I did like your breakdown. Only I will need to steer clear of any actual riding practice. I will share and go over, the DOT safe cycling pamphlet and that is it.

The problem is that how I ride goes against what the school police tell them to do in the "safe cycling" lesson before they get to me. They are told to ride facing traffic on the sidewalk, or in the gutter if no sidewalk is available. I get a lot of questions from the students about why I ride "in the street." I often use that as a "teachable moment." However, it is very clear that I am not to instruct the students to ride in any manner that is not in agreement with the school district's "safety" department. All I can do is explain why I do what I do, and I have permission to share the state DOT safe cycling pamphlet, which instructs the reader to ride in, what I consider to be, a safe manner.

I think you can see that safe riding is a very narrow edge I have to walk. I can share what the state DOT published. I can answer direct questions about why I ride the way I do. However, I must not contradict what the district "safety" department tells the students to do.

An example of a direct question was the time a student asked me why I wave my arms around when I am riding. The question actually came from her grandmother, who was driving the students somewhere when she saw me riding my bicycle. I think all of you can guess, when I showed her proper hand signals, she immediately identified that as what I was doing.

I explained hand signals, frankly, I don't think she really understood. She made another unfortunate comment. When they saw me, grandmother had told her that I wasn't supposed to be riding in the street and that if she saw me riding in the street again, she was going to, "run me over." I pointed out to the student that the quote was a stupid thing to say. reason being, if by some weird chain of events, her grandmother did hit me while I was riding my bicycle, she had already established intent to assault.

I mention all this to make clear that I am not going to go near "safe riding." I will share the State DOT pamphlet and answer direct questions, but I will not tell them how they should ride. This, it is a very narrow line. in fact, this issue may be the reason that I reject the idea, of bike class, altogether. My current mini-elective is a short course in fact-checking, and even there I was reminded of staying in my lane. In particular, showing the students how to use Wikipedia academically, instead of the blanket statement of, "never use Wikipedia."

mrv 

If you're still looking for course outline ideas, BSA has a cycling badge that culminates with a 50 mile ride.
Requirement should be out line here: https://www.boyscouttrail.com/boy-sc...es/cycling.asp

I'm involved with an organization called Trail Life, and if you'd like to see their requirements, I can dig them up. lemme know.

I like you're idea of working with the local PD for bikes to work on .
Also contact your LBS. They might have suggestions / bikes headed for the dumpster, or be willing to donate.
As far as Wal-Mart, tell them you'll fix some of the bikes on their floor for free! Or train their bike mechanics how to put the forks on right! ha!

Cool stuff - working with the Yout' of 'merica! Enjoy!
mrv

icemilkcoffee 

- tire changing; tube patching
- headsets and handlebars swapping
- chain removal & insltallation
- crank removal - swapping chain rings
- brakes

You have to remember that a lot of kids today ride these SE BMX/wheelie bikes. So the course needs to cater to that, instead of road bikes.

TiHabanero

I have done bike classes for middle schoolers. Believe me 30 minutes allows little time for anything other than lecture and a simple demo or two. There is not enough time to walk each student through actual practice. Keep it simple.

urbanknight

From one middle school teacher to another, it sounds like you have plenty of topics to cover and not much time to cover them and review them (remember, you're gonna have to say it more than once). My suggestion for the first attempt at this is to number the tasks by priority and see how far you get, then reorder them next time if you like. My picks would be:
1 changing a tire/tube
2 patching a tube
3 changing and adjusting brake pads (caliper, linear, and disc)
4 cleaning the chain
5 adjusting derailleurs
6 riding safety and etiquette

_ForceD_

What? The cops are telling them this? The cops need schooled. Riding against traffic on the roadway is not only dangerous, but is against the law in every state according to the US DOT — https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/bicycle-safety

At any rate…there are some good ideas here. Maybe you could contact a bike co-op (or a LBS as suggested) in your area for a bicycle mechanic to volunteer to help teach the class.

Dan

Robert C

Some people are mentioning bike Co-Op's. If I were to stick a compass on the map and draw a two hundred mile circle I doubt that I would hit a single Bike Co-Op or bike club. The nearest bike shop is about seventy miles away and it only services bikes. It is actually a Pawn Shop, but one of the owners likes to work on bikes. The next closest is about another hundred miles.

biker128pedal

Sidewalk. When I was 10 I was threatened with a ticket for riding on the sidewalk. Old lady in the neighborhood complained to the police.

Korina

May I ask what city you're in? We have members in pretty much every state and then some; you might be able to make some connections.

Irrelevant, but my family's from Augusta; I was born in El Dorado, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

redcon1

Good idea --I was going to suggest the Bicycling Skill Badges of the Webelos - It covered some basic maintenance and less detail than the Bicycling Merit Badge. Pretty sure the badge pamphlets are available online now from BSA. I remember teaching my Webelos Den how to remove the tire to swap a tube and inflate properly, replace a brake cable, adjust the brake shoes, adjust seat height (talking about proper fit), and I think we swapped a front derailleur cable just because one kid had broken one. I guess much of the content will be based on what kind of bikes show up, or you can procure.

Flip Flop Rider

Riding on the correct side of the road. How to deal with bikes on the road as a driver. Safety equipment