Bike Maintenance 101

The El Camino Real Mobile Bicycle Project is hosting a free Bike Maintenance 101 Workshop on Sunday, Sept. 22 from 1:30- 2:30 p.m. at the San Marcos Public Library.

The workshop will cover the basics of bike maintenance such as patching a flat, replacing a tube, lubricating the drive train, chain, brake and shifter lines as well as seat post adjustment.

Workshop facilitator Christopher Colòn said, learning some simple bike maintenance basics can save riders a lot of worry, time and money. 

“Sometimes people feel they need to spend a lot of money to fix something, but it’s often something they can fix at home,” Colòn said. “So I think it will help people that can’t afford a bicycle, especially a new one. I think it will also help put more sustainable transportation on the roads. But the awesome by product of all that is the smiles — because it’s a lot of fun to ride bicycles.”

The Bicycle Maintenance 101 workshop will be hosted under the library's portico and attendees are encouraged to bring their own bikes so they can get hands-on experience.

“I want this to be interactive,” Colòn said. “I want them to bring their bicycles because I want to put tools in people's hands. 

The El Camino Real Mobile Bicycle Project hosts regular bicycle pop-up workshops at different city parks. They help people repair bikes, as well as teach people the actual skills needed to repair their own bikes.

“We transport all of our tools and equipment to a park every Thursday and host a little bike maintenance pop-up, where anyone can bring their bicycle and get them fixed and we’ll teach you how to do it,” Colòn said.

Those that can’t make it to the library workshop are encouraged to look at the full schedule of El Camino Real Mobile Bicycle Project’s upcoming pop-ups on their Facebook page.

For more information call the San Marcos Public Library at 512-393-8200.