Bike Explosion, a non-profit community bike workshop and cycle maintenance school, are organising free bike maintenance workshops in Dartington throughout October and November, to assist people in learning how to fix their own bikes.

The sessions will take place at NewLion and at The ReStore Dartington, and everyone is welcome.

Bike Explosion is run entirely by volunteers, who encourage a practical “do-it-yourself” attitude when it comes to fixing bikes.

The workshop was founded in 2010, by Elliot Perkins and his colleague Andrew, with the co-founders wanting “to bring about a radical shift in thinking and practice around accessibility to cycling.” The workshop has since been running for twelve years, with the volunteers aiming to “demystify cycle mechanics, working with hundreds of cyclists across South Devon at (their) workspace in Dartington and out on the road with (their) mobile workshop.”

The team all share a love for bike riding, but they say that their work “goes beyond the simple enjoyment of riding and staying healthy”. Elliot said of the project: "Apart from the obvious health and social benefits, cycling is already a radical gesture against oil dependency, environmental degradation, car culture and transport poverty.” He says, “The bicycle is one of the oldest forms of open-source technology in regular use by millions of people worldwide. The technical simplicity is hard to reduce any further.”

The team at Bike Explosion want to ensure that the skill of fixing and maintaining a bike is learnt by as many people as possible, so more people can enjoy bike riding without the financial pressures that usually come with having a bike fixed.

Elliot says, “It’s easy to learn how to fix and maintain a bike, mostly with tools many people already have… Riding is free, keeping your bike in working order doesn’t have to cost lots of money if you learn to do it yourself.”

The workshops include guidance and advice from volunteer mechanics, as well as access to specialist tools that usually may be difficult or expensive to buy.

Yet, the volunteers say they don’t consider themselves “experts”, and instead “encourage a more discursive and participatory learning and a bit of experimentation”.

They say of the sessions: “Workshops are always informal, we get dirty, take stuff to bits, experiment with different techniques, talk about all manner of stuff. We plan workshops so that there is space for practice until a technique ‘feels right’ and can be performed without further assistance. Above all we try to make things fun in atmosphere which doesn’t intimidate and encourages cooperation amongst the learners.”

With the current cost-of-living crisis, sessions like this that find creative ways to help people save money are especially important. Elliot emphasises this, saying that “Repairs can be expensive when you pay someone else to do them and many people are bracing for tough times and looking for ways to navigate the current crisis.”

The workshops are available “for all abilities, ages and experience”, and include “’surgery’ type workshops” where the team help to fixing current problems with bikes, or “more focused” workshops, which focus on “particular skills such as gear alignment, puncture repair, brake set-up, hub overhaul, winterising, wheel truing or wheel building.”

The workshops are taking place on Saturdays at 2-5pm, and you can visit the Bike Explosion website, http://bikeexplosion.org, for more details.