I took a Park Tool class at LBS
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DebSP
...One of the stores close by offers a course put on by Park Tools. ...Has anyone ever taken their course? ...
I took the 8 hour class two summers ago. The instructor had a sit down lecture to begin with. Educated us on the history of bikes, the different kinds of bike styles, materials, geometries, and riding performances. The benefits and drawbacks of all were discussed. That was entertaining. But, later I wished I had that time spent back for the mechanical portion.
Basically we all took our bikes apart-- completely. Tires, tubes, wheels all off and separated. Brake and derailleur cables cut and removed, along with housing, brakes, shifters... you get the picture. You have your bike completely disassembled and beginning with the frame in hand, wash and clean everthing. Even cleaned down to the smallested screw. All the components were checked out. Then we were guided in the reassembly of our bikes. New cables were provided, everything either relubed or greased-- there is a difference, as we were lectured as we proceeded. That all was worthwhile for me.
The class was just the right size for me as there were only three other guys present. What made it interesting was one had a tri bike, two had high tech mountain bikes and I had my 20 year old 10 speed Puch racer with down tube shifters. So we learned to do with what bike we had. Did that make sense? We would step around our work stations to observe one another occasionally, but did not lend a hand.
I think I paid $125 for that class. It did include the book and cables. I am glad that I went. My only regret is towards the end of the evening the instructor tried to get us to speed up. Things got a little sloppy. We had all the right tools available and that was really helpful. I am a visual learner and the class helped in that regard. It also gave me the confidence to work on bikes more myself rather than rely on someone else. I have since made up for the cost of that class by doing my own wrenching.