Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society

Beginning March 11 and continuing every Thursday evening at 6:00 P.M., EBC will be offering a series of how-to bike maintenance seminars.  We’ll start things off on Thursday the 11th with a basic bike maintenance and tune up class. No previous experience is required.  Bring your bike if you have one or come and practice on our bikes!  All courses are free for EBC members and $5 for non-members.  While registration is not mandatory it is strongly recommended as courses will be capped at ten people. To register, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  And make sure to check out our calendar for upcoming courses covering topics from wheel care to drivechain overhauls!

Design and build your own custom bike lights: wearable lights, colourful LEDs, ultra high-power front and rear lights, neon lights, helmet lights, dynamo LED upgrades—we’ll teach you how to make whatever you want.

We’ll go over circuits, LEDs, batteries, soldering, weather-proofing, and help you design and construct your own custom lights. No tools, soldering, nor electronic experience necessary! Just bring your ideas of what you want to build.  You can view the course outline here.

To register for the bike lights workshop, please e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). The workshop shall be on Saturday, February 20, 2010, from 5pm-9pm.

The cost of the workshop is free to members, and $20 to non-members.  You will have to pay for any materials you require for building your lights.  You can look at the preliminary price list, but in general, the most expensive, high-power lights will cost you about $25 to build, and another $25 for a lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack and charger (if needed).

Depending on the complexity of what you design, and the availability of parts, we may schedule later small-group sessions to do the actual light construction.

You can also view a comparison of some of the front lights, some of which are available for immediate purchase (i.e. you don’t have to do any work, but the prices will be higher than what’s listed).

As a bonus, there will be free button/watch/coin cell batteries available, so bring your dead watches, mini-electronics, and valve stem lights for a free replacement. 

Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Time: 6:30pm-9pm
Location: BikeWorks (10047 80 Ave, entrance through back alley only)
Cost: Showing up to talk or ask questions is free. If you want to stud a tire, it costs $5 for members (to cover materials), $10 for non-members. Supply your own tire, or buy used ($5) or new ($10) tires at the workshop.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (registration for tire studding is required)

Do you fall down a lot?  Do your fingers and toes go numb in the cold?  Did your eyes freeze shut last night?  Do you think people that ride bicycles in the winter are crazy?  Did you know that the average daily temperature in January 2009 was -10.5C, and that the average daily high in February 2009 was -4.1C?

Come talk with us about how we do it.  While you’re at it, put some wicked studs in your tire.  It took me ~45 minutes the first time I made one (and I’m awful with a drill), and I enjoyed it so much that I studded 4 more tires, and I’d do it again sooner than repack my bottom bracket. Didn’t even get dirty.

Join us for another workshop where you can add retro-reflective material to your clothing in stylish and creative ways or make retro-reflective patches that you can sew onto clothing, backpacks, etc.  The first one was great fun—below you can see some of the designs that were made that evening (without need much technical or artistic skill, even!).

As the nights become longer cyclists increasingly need to use every tool in their arsenal to stay visible to motorists on the road. One tool is silver retroreflective material that, when light (especially from headlights) is shined on it, reflects light back to the source.

Bring:
- clothing you would like to make more visible in the night. Make sure it is clean, and when you wash it, don’t use fabric softener. This process in this workshop isn’t suitable for some materials (like plastic rain coats) that can’t be ironed.
- ideas for designs and motifs, because reflectivity doesn’t have to just mean a big ol’ X on the back. We will have a computer and printer available if you want to bring ideas in digital form.

Hope to see you there!

Location: BikeWorks, upstairs lounge (10047 80 Ave, entrance through back alley only)
Cost: Free for members, $5 for non-members
RSVP: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  - space is limited
Time: 7-9pm
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 (tentative)

We have apparently run through the backlog of people wanting to take basic bike mechanic courses, so we’re just going to have them on Tuesdays until the end of September, starting next week.  There’s still a course on this Friday, September 4 at 6pm, if you’re interested.  Just come on down to BikeWorks.

For the future Tuesday courses, please come register in-person with a $10 deposit (returned to members when you take the course).  You can also try dropping into a course without registering, but if it’s full, the people who have registered get priority.

Cheers!

We offer basic bike mechanic courses every Tuesday and Friday evening at 6pm.  If you’re interested in learning how to fix a flat, adjust your brakes, and get your shifters working, as well as having an opportunity to ask questions of an experienced cyclist and mechanic, then register!  Courses are free to members, $10 for non-members.

To register, go to our community bike work shop, BikeWorks (map), and talk to any of our volunteer or staff mechanics.

You feel comfortable on your bicycle, but a little iffy about biking on 109 St?  Or you’ve been biking for years down Whyte Ave, but still aren’t really sure if you’re supposed to be sidling up to the curb when you stop at a red light? Take the CANBIKE 2 course.

This course is suitable to all cyclists who feel comfortable on their bicycles and want to learn more about cycling safely and efficiently in traffic.

There will be a Canadian Cycling Association CanBike 2 Course in late August. CanBike 2 is an 18 hour, on-road cycling course. The course covers the theory of on-road cycling and practical riding techniques starting on quiet roads and working up to more complex situations.

To read more and see how to register, click here.

We’ll be offering a free basic bike maintenance course tonight (Friday, August 7) from 6-9pm. Another course will happen on Tuesday, August 11 from 6-9pm. Both courses happen at BikeWorks. Registration is limited to 6 people per course.

If you wish to register for either course, please e-mail me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). The first 6 for each course will be accepted. These courses are free.

These courses are part of a regular series of courses which we will be offering every Tuesday and Friday evening. They will all cover the same material:  fixing flats, adjusting brakes and adjusting shifting.

Starting with the course on August 14, 2009, course registration must be done in-person at BikeWorks prior to the course date. There will be a $10 deposit, which is refunded to EBC members when they attend the course (non-members can choose to have the $10 pay for the course or be put towards purchasing a membership).

If you wish to register for any course from August 14 onwards, please go into the shop in-person and register.

We will be running two concurrent special needs childrens’ Learn to Bike courses. You can help out as an assistant instructor.

This week EBC held two courses on basic bike maintenance. We had a fantastic turn out for both of them and are hoping to organize more in the near future. We’ll post details here once things have been finalized so please check back.

This course is now full. You can still e-mail us to be put on a contact list for the next course, or if any spots free up in either the April 10 or April 11 courses.

Our other course has filled up very quickly.  You really want to learn!  We’ve added a second course for Saturday, April 11, at 5:30pm.

EBC will be running a free basic maintenance course at BikeWorks on Saturday, April 11, 2009 from 5:30-8:30pm. The course will be hands-on (bring your bike), and cover bike basics, including repairing flats, replacing chains and adjusting gears.

Registration is limited to 6 people.  To register, send a request with your name and telephone number to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

This course is now full. You can still e-mail us to be put on a contact list for the next course, or if any spots free up in either the April 10 or April 11 courses.