Bicycle Repair Basics
Your bike is your independence — to school, to work, to friends. Learn to fix it and you never miss a day. Master it and you start earning weekends.
Earn up to 175 coins
🎖️ Bike Repair Badge
Force for Health
A bike that rolls is a body that moves. Heart, lungs, legs, mood — all fed.
Force for Wealth
$60 a bike at a shop. $5 of parts at home. Multiply that by every bike in your neighborhood.
Force for Community
Kids in your block have flat tires sitting in garages. Become the kid who fixes them.
0 coins
Goal: 175
Quick Check-In, Before We Begin
Right now, how confident are you making basic bike repairs?
How likely are you to fix a friend's or neighbor's bike?
One Quick Knowledge Question
You hear a hiss and your tire is flat. First check?
Meet Your Bike
A bicycle is the most efficient machine humans have ever built. Calorie for calorie, you can travel four times as far on a bike as you can walking. Six core systems make it work — frame, wheels, drivetrain, brakes, steering, and saddle. Three of those (wheels, brakes, drivetrain) are 95% of all repairs.
The Six Core Systems
A bike's the first machine most kids own. Treat it right and it goes a hundred thousand miles. Treat it wrong and it sits in the garage rusting like a bad memory.
The Three Most Common Repairs
Flat Tire
Tube punctured. Patch or replace. The #1 reason bikes sit unused.
Brake Adjustment
Pads worn or cable stretched. Squeak and slack — fix it.
Chain Care
Clean. Lube. Repeat monthly. A dry chain robs your legs of power.
Watch It Done Right
How to Use It — The Five Moves
- Flip the bike or use a stand. Working on a bike that's right-side-up fights you. Flip it onto handlebars and seat (gently), or use a stand.
- Find the cause before fixing. Flat tire? Look for what poked through. Brake squeak? Check for worn pads or contaminated rotor. Don't just patch the symptom.
- Get the right tube/part size. Tire sidewall has size printed (e.g. 700x25c, 26x1.95). Match exactly. Wrong size = same problem tomorrow.
- Lube ONLY the chain. Bike lube goes on the chain pin-by-pin while pedaling backward. Wipe excess off. Never spray brakes or rotor — that's how brakes fail.
- Test before you ride. Squeeze brakes, shift through all gears, spin wheels to check they're true. Two minutes of testing prevents one minute of crashing.
Bike's a forgiving teacher. You can mess up most repairs once and it'll still get you home. But brakes? Brakes you check twice. Brakes are non-negotiable.
Patch a Tube vs Replace It
Patch if: the hole is small (under 3mm), the tube is recent, and you have a patch kit. Saves $7.
Replace if: the hole is on a seam, near the valve, or the tube has 3+ patches already. New tube is $7–$10.
Either way, find what caused the flat and remove it from the tire BEFORE installing the new/patched tube.
Safe & Unsafe
✅ Safe
- Helmet — for the test ride
- Eye protection (chain grit flies)
- Glove up or wash hands — chain grease is real
- Test brakes BEFORE the test ride
- Tighten quick-releases fully — wheels falling off mid-ride is bad
⚠️ Unsafe
- Riding without testing brakes after a repair
- Lubing brake pads or rotors
- Skipping the cause check on a flat
- Loose quick-release skewers
- Riding with cracked frame, cracked rim, or worn-through brake pads
Why This Is a Force for Health, Wealth & Community
Health: A working bike = movement, fitness, freedom. A broken bike sits in the garage and so does the rider. Wealth: A bike shop charges $20–$30 to fix a flat. Eight bucks of parts and ten minutes at home. Multiply that by every bike in the neighborhood and you've got a summer business. Community: The kid next door who can't ride to school because of a flat. The grandma who needs her trike adjusted. The new family with three rusty bikes in the garage.
Put It to Work
Do at least one. Snap a photo of your work to earn the coins. A grown-up can supervise younger learners.
Find the most beat-up bike in your house, your friend's house, or a thrift store. Fix one thing. Just one. Then ride it around the block. That's how every great bike mechanic started.
Fix a flat tire
Find the cause, patch or replace the tube, reinstall, test. Photo of the offending object that caused the flat.
+50 coins
Adjust brakes on a bike
Tighten cable, true brake pads to rim or rotor, test in a parking lot. Bike should stop quickly.
+40 coins
Clean and lube a chain
Wipe the chain with a rag. Lube each link. Pedal backward 30 seconds. Wipe off excess. Bike runs quieter.
+35 coins
Be a Force for Others
Sharing what you learned — and helping someone with it — earns bonus coins and your badge.
Look down your block. How many bikes are sitting in garages with flat tires? Knock on the door. 'Hey, I just learned how to fix a flat — want me to take a look?' That's a $10 job or a friend for life. Both work.
🤝 Fix a bike for a friend, sibling, or neighbor
Flat tire, loose brakes, dry chain. Bring your skill. Take the bike from garage-rust to road-ready.
+40 coins (Force for Community)If you liked this, you might love a career as a Bicycle Mechanic or Mobile Bike Repair Owner.
Bike shops pay $18–$28/hour starting and grow into shop management. Mobile bike mechanics charge $80–$120 per house call. E-bikes are the fastest-growing transportation segment in America — and shops can't hire fast enough.
Bicycle Repair Basics — Unlocked!
Six skills locked in. One more to unlock the sponsored toolbox — and it's the one most kids skip: communicating with the pros.
0 coins earned