We are delivering bike maintenance courses in partnership with Cycle North and CityConnect. Our courses are currently free of charge and open to anyone aged 16+ and living in West Yorkshire*
Jump to > Basic Bike Maintenance | Intermediate Bike Maintenance
*All participants must be 16+ to attend these courses. If someone between 16-18 will not be accompanied by an adult, please contact us before you book – thank you!
Basic Bike Maintenance
This 2.5-hour session is for people who would like to understand their bike a bit better. You don’t need any previous experience of bike maintenance but if you do, that’s fine too. We encourage you to bring your own bike along and we hope that by the end of the session you will feel more confident in keeping your bike running smoothly and safely.
We add dates every month, so please check back if you can’t find a date and time that works for you.
Session content (click to expand)
M-check
The M-check is a simple way of making sure your bike is safe to ride by identifying any adjustments that are needed and repairs to be made. Together we will work through the M-check and carry out simple adjustments. The tutor will walk you through the check and you can carry it out on your own bike as we go along. We will also discuss when it’s best to get your bike seen by a professional.
Tyre and Tube removal and replacement.
We will discuss why punctures occur and how to avoid them. You will all have the opportunity to practise removing a wheel, removing the tube from the tyre and then putting it all back together again. We’ll share tips for getting tyres off and on again.
Cleaning
We’ll talk through where and when to clean and lubricate and what to use. The tutor will demonstrate how to check a chain for wear and how to clean the chain.
Please note that certain components, including those for electric bikes, hub gears, internal cable routing, and electronic shifting, are beyond the scope of the course / time available, but we will be able to provide an alternative bike to practice the course activities on when required.
Intermediate Bike Maintenance
Our intermediate course is suitable for those who have already attended our Introduction to Bike Maintenance course or otherwise know the basics about their bike e.g. can carry out a general check, remove/replace a wheel, repair a puncture and clean and lubricate in the right places. We encourage you to bring your own bike along.
We add dates every month, so please check back if you can’t find a date and time that works for you. It is also always worth joining the waitlist for the Intermediate course as spaces often become available a few days before the course.
Session Content (click to expand)
Brakes
We will provide examples of different brake types and discuss the differences in their mechanisms. The tutor will demonstrate how to remove, replace and align brake pads; how to centre your brakes; how to adjust cable tension; and how to replace cables. You will then have the opportunity to practise some of these tasks on your own bike. For those of you with hydraulic disc brakes, we will look at the similarities and differences to rim brakes, how to adjust and centre your brakes and how to replace pads. We’ll talk through the principles of bleeding hydraulic disc brakes.
Gears
We will then look at how gears work and discuss common problems. The tutor will demonstrate how and where to check for wear and tear including whether the chain/cassette is worn and what condition the cables and housing are in, followed by how to replace the chain, cassette and cables. We will cover how and where to inspect the components for damage, how to set the limit screws, how to correctly set the position of a front mech and how to index your gears by adjusting the cable tension. There will then be the opportunity for you to spend time practising some of these skills on your own bike.
Please note that certain components, including those for electric bikes, hub gears, internal cable routing, and electronic shifting, are beyond the scope of the course / time available, but we will be able to provide an alternative bike to practice the course activities on when required.
There will be a 30 minute break for lunch. Please bring a packed lunch that you can eat cold. We encourage you to bring a flask with a hot drink but we can make you one if needed.
Access
Our workshop is on the first floor up a flight of stairs. The tutor will offer to carry your bike upstairs however if you have accessibility requirements that mean you would be unable to access a session on the first floor, please contact Leeds Bike Mill to let us know as we do have the option of booking a ground floor space to run a session in. This would need to be arranged in advance so please hold off booking a place until you have spoken to us.
If you use reading glasses we recommend bringing these along as some of the work is very close up and detailed.
Please bear in mind that our workshop is poorly insulated so it can get very hot in summer and very cold in winter. We do our best to heat/cool the space appropriately but we recommend dressing for the weather!
There is some limited free car parking outside the workshop and payable parking in nearby streets.
leedsbikemill.org 
Hi team,
Just wondering when the next intermediate bike maintenance course will be as the one on 28th is sold out?
Thanks
Hiya Rich!
There will be 2 more Intermediate courses in August – we run 2 per month. One is confirmed for Saturday the 24th, and they will both go onto the Eventbrite page around the 3rd week of this month. They are very popular and get booked up quickly, so we’d recommend clicking the “Follow” button on the Eventbrite page to sign up for email notifications when next month’s course dates are released 🙂
Hey,
Just wondering when next intermediate bike maintenance course will be as two in March are sold out?
Hey! April’s dates are still tbc… we usually add new dates for the Intermediate course monthly, usually around the middle of the month. So April course dates will go live in the next week or so. Hope you can make it to a course soon.