The Earn-A-Bike Program
Earn yourself a bicycle (to keep) while learning how to fix it! We go for fun bike rides, learn a lot of bike mechanics and bike safety, and explore some environmental issues. You don't need any experience with mechanics, and we've even had students who've never ridden a bike before. Our instructors will work with you every step of the way to make this fun and easy to learn. Our bike rides spend most of their time on bike paths in the parks near us, and once everyone has learned their skills we'll deal with riding on the street.
You pick out a bike (choose from mountain, road, or BMX bikes), we teach you to rebuild it, and then you keep it! These courses are for ages 12-18. We run Spring, Summer, and Fall courses for girls and boys, and some courses will be Girls Only.
Contact Elijah Evans at 617-522-0222 or elijah(at)bikesnotbombs.org. Or download an application for the course you want, below.
SPRING Session #1: March 30 - May 7, 2009 (Boys and Girls)
SPRING Session #2: May 18 - June 22, 2009 (Girls only!)
The courses meet each week Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:30-6 pm. These course are for ages 12 to 18.
Download the English Spring Application or the Spanish Spring Application. Or contact Elijah Evans at 617-522-0222 or elijah(at)bikesnotbombs.org to get it emailed or mailed it to you, or you can drop by and pick it up.
SUMMER Session #1: TBA for 2009
SUMMER Session #2: TBA for 2009
The courses meet each week Monday-Friday, 2:30-5:30pm each day. These courses are for boys and girls ages 12 to 18.
Download the Summer Application. Or contact Elijah Evans at 617-522-0222 or elijah(at)bikesnotbombs.org to get it emailed or mailed it to you, or you can drop by and pick it up.
Fall Session: TBA for 2009
The courses meet each week Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:30-6 pm. These courses are for ages 12 to 18.
Download the entire manual as a 3 MB zipped archive of pdfs, created on a Macintosh.
OR, download the chapters and cover as individual pdfs:
Cover
Chapter 1: Instructor Contract
Chapter 2: Tires
Chapter 3: Bottom Brackets
Chapter 4: Basic Tools
Chapter 5: Hubs
Chapter 6: Selecting A Bike
Chapter 7: Bike Safety
Chapter 8: Headsets
Chapter 9: Wheel Truing
Chapter 10: Braking Systems
Chapter 11: Cantilever Brakes
Chapter 12: Rear Derailleurs
Chapter 13: Front Derailleurs
Earn yourself a bicycle (to keep) while learning how to fix it! We go for fun bike rides, learn a lot of bike mechanics and bike safety, and explore some environmental issues. You don't need any experience with mechanics, and we've even had students who've never ridden a bike before. Our instructors will work with you every step of the way to make this fun and easy to learn. Our bike rides spend most of their time on bike paths in the parks near us, and once everyone has learned their skills we'll deal with riding on the street.
You pick out a bike (choose from mountain, road, or BMX bikes), we teach you to rebuild it, and then you keep it! These courses are for ages 12-18. We run Spring, Summer, and Fall courses for girls and boys, and some courses will be Girls Only.
Contact Elijah Evans at 617-522-0222 or elijah(at)bikesnotbombs.org. Or download an application for the course you want, below.
SPRING Session #1: March 30 - May 7, 2009 (Boys and Girls)
SPRING Session #2: May 18 - June 22, 2009 (Girls only!)
The courses meet each week Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:30-6 pm. These course are for ages 12 to 18.
Download the English Spring Application or the Spanish Spring Application. Or contact Elijah Evans at 617-522-0222 or elijah(at)bikesnotbombs.org to get it emailed or mailed it to you, or you can drop by and pick it up.
SUMMER Session #1: TBA for 2009
SUMMER Session #2: TBA for 2009
The courses meet each week Monday-Friday, 2:30-5:30pm each day. These courses are for boys and girls ages 12 to 18.
Download the Summer Application. Or contact Elijah Evans at 617-522-0222 or elijah(at)bikesnotbombs.org to get it emailed or mailed it to you, or you can drop by and pick it up.
Fall Session: TBA for 2009
The courses meet each week Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:30-6 pm. These courses are for ages 12 to 18.
What is Earn-A-Bike?
This is a pre-employment training program that young people love and come to voluntarily! Earn-A-Bikers, age 12 and up, each enter into a contract with us, selecting a bike that s/he will rebuild, and agreeing to a "price" to be paid in hours worked at the Center. One fifth of those hours are community service work, the rest are spent studying bicycle safety and mechanics, and repairing the bicycle.Help Teach in Earn-A-Bike!
We'll give you a full course in bike mechanics, and then you will help teach young people to rebuild and earn a bike to be their own! Go on fun rides and teach safe riding and environmental issues. Female and male volunteers needed. Spanish language skills or youth-work experience are helpful, but no experience required. For more information, see our Get Involved page.Training Manual
We make our training manual available for people wanting to run youth bicycle programs in other places. This is the mechanics manual we use to train the volunteers who will become assistant teachers in Earn-A-Bike.Download the entire manual as a 3 MB zipped archive of pdfs, created on a Macintosh.
OR, download the chapters and cover as individual pdfs:
Cover
Chapter 1: Instructor Contract
Chapter 2: Tires
Chapter 3: Bottom Brackets
Chapter 4: Basic Tools
Chapter 5: Hubs
Chapter 6: Selecting A Bike
Chapter 7: Bike Safety
Chapter 8: Headsets
Chapter 9: Wheel Truing
Chapter 10: Braking Systems
Chapter 11: Cantilever Brakes
Chapter 12: Rear Derailleurs
Chapter 13: Front Derailleurs