Do you know how to drop your bike’s tire? If your brake pads are squeaking, what do you do?
If you don’t know, you’re not alone.
Even in a bike-centric town like Eugene, the details of bike mechanics are often trusted to professionals. Sometimes, however, this can be problematic, especially if you identify as female.
“It tends to be the case that when you walk into a bike shop the mechanics are all male,” said Ellie Bartlett, a Bike Program mechanic. “So we’re working on just making it really accessible to women, and having women in the shop to make it more comfortable to ask questions.”
This was the premise of Tuesday’s Women’s Bike Maintenance Night, presented by the UO Bike Program, which is housed in the Outdoor Program. The annual event provides women with an opportunity to learn the basics of bike mechanics and ask questions in a comfortable environment.
Bartlett led the two-hour workshop, which began with each woman relating her reason for attending. Nearly all described her bike as her main mode of transportation.
The group of about fifteen represented a wide range of age and experience, but all seemed excited to get hands-on experience working with their bikes.
One woman wanted to gain confidence to work on bikes with her son. Another wanted to avoid being a lazy bike owner. For attendee Megan Mecseji, the event was simply “way too rad to bypass.”
The workshop opened with brief tutorials on some maintenance basics, then moved to individual work. Attendees adjusted gears and pumped tires as Bartlett and other Bike Program staff looked on and offered advice.
It wasn’t long ago that Bartlett herself was just learning the basics. This time last year, she participated in the Bike Program’s six-week Bike School. She joined the staff shortly after. Now she’s a Bike School instructor who passes on her bike mechanics knowledge to others.
“It’s really not that hard when you learn to apply some basic principles that you might tackle on your bike,” she said.  “By teaching people some main components of bike maintenance, you can generally look at a problem and decide what to do to it.”
Blake Cliff furrowed her brow as she fiddled with her back tire. Cliff had no prior bike experience, but was excited about the prospect of new skills. When her wheel (decorated with colorful pipe cleaners) finally spun smoothly, she grinned.
Smiling and pushing back stray hair with grease-blackened hands, the other women in the room seemed pleased with their efforts as well. They asked questions and experimented, undeterred by mistakes.
“If people have further questions that they didn’t learn out of the course, that means that I’m doing my job well,” Bartlett said. That’s why she loves to teach people what she’s learned about bikes: the basics open doors to new curiosities about Eugene’s favorite form of transportation.
“If I can get people to come in the shop and just be more curious and savvy bike commuters, then I’ll be happy,” she said.
For more information about the UO’s Outdoor Program or Bike Program, visit their website.