I've just completed a four day bike maintenance course at cyclewales.net and for anyone considering it I would say it was more than worth it. The workshop is at Talysarn in Snowdonia and the course is designed so that your bike is road worthy at the end of each day. and as the days works finishes early it means you can get out on your bike into the beautiful mountains that surround you. It is amazing. I started the course terrified of my bike and unwilling to try to mend anything more serious than a puncture or broken chain. By the end of the four days - tools willing - I felt confident enough to strip my bike down and put it back together. We covered all the bearings from the steering tube, to the bottom bracket, to the wheel hubs. We took the gear mechs off, took them apart and cleaned them where appropriate and put them back on, learning how to set them up properly. It was the same with the brakes. We learned how to replace a spoke and true a wheel, how to maintain the hubs and much much more. As long as I remember everything ok I now feel comfortable keeping the bikes in good working order while we are away.
Dewi, who led the course, was excellent and (for me at least) paced the course extremely well. Our course was adapted to suit the needs of the cycling tourer. Stephen Lord, the author of Adventure Cycle Touring Handbook was on it as well and taking the course with him was a big bonus. I just hope he didn't mind facing a barrage of questions throughout the week. Ken also has a Thorn, the out of our price range Exp. He's due to leave on a four year adventure in September. There were two Phil's, one who did a bit of everything, road, touring and mountain biking, the other who' funnily enough was from Stratford way and knows Bob Brolly. Then there was Colin (God I hope I am getting all these names right and not mixing them up - apologies guys if I have!) who had bought a Surly from the US and was building it ready to cycle back home to Ireland at the end of the week. I spent four days as happy as a pig in muck and enjoyed cycling to and from the workshop in glorious spring sunshine. On a number of occasions I had a "oh my God this is what the next year is all about" kind of head rush as I watched the sun set over the Irish Sea or went bombing down one of the nearby hills. It has settled my nerves a great deal - not only about looking after the bikes but also about our decision to take off for a year.
Dewi, who led the course, was excellent and (for me at least) paced the course extremely well. Our course was adapted to suit the needs of the cycling tourer. Stephen Lord, the author of Adventure Cycle Touring Handbook was on it as well and taking the course with him was a big bonus. I just hope he didn't mind facing a barrage of questions throughout the week. Ken also has a Thorn, the out of our price range Exp. He's due to leave on a four year adventure in September. There were two Phil's, one who did a bit of everything, road, touring and mountain biking, the other who' funnily enough was from Stratford way and knows Bob Brolly. Then there was Colin (God I hope I am getting all these names right and not mixing them up - apologies guys if I have!) who had bought a Surly from the US and was building it ready to cycle back home to Ireland at the end of the week. I spent four days as happy as a pig in muck and enjoyed cycling to and from the workshop in glorious spring sunshine. On a number of occasions I had a "oh my God this is what the next year is all about" kind of head rush as I watched the sun set over the Irish Sea or went bombing down one of the nearby hills. It has settled my nerves a great deal - not only about looking after the bikes but also about our decision to take off for a year.
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