Ok, so I have to run a random 1 hour 'art of bike maintenance' workshop at a very random gathering of very random people. I want it to have some vaguely techy content for a non-techy audience e.g. I'll get some of them to have a go at breaking and re-joining a chain, basic stuff like that.

But it would be good to include some other stuff – stories of maintenance genius etc (I already have Sheldon Brown on my list). If I had the time and the brainpower I'd re-read Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance and come up with a witty pastiche, but it ain't going to happen.

All ideas welcomed.

think you'll find the WI has a new image and younger members so how about forgetting Zen and using the Kama Sutra?

The WI would be an easier audience, slow handclapping notwithstanding. My dad's retired and misses running conferences/professional get-togethers, so now we have these 'conferences' of random stuff. Most importantly I'm on the same slot as my dad's sourdough bread session, and I want to make sure I get more people than he does.

Perhaps look at ingenius get-you-home fixes like a £10 note as field repair for a split tyre.

IMO:

Fix just in time. Use it until its buggered then try to fix it.

Never wash your bike. Wait until it dries and brush it off.

Whatever you do your bike will never be completely working 100% perfectly and silently at all times so live with it.

And this link is not exactly maintenance but is really interesting suntour vs shimano

if it's ain't borked don't f**king fix it

skidartist, that's a nice one. I actually do have a split tyre needs fixing at the moment. Seems like an opportunity for one of those magician 'has anyone got a tenner?' moments…

"if it aint broke….. strip it down to component pieces to see how it works, just because you can"

"brute force, if its not working, your not using enough of it"

"if it moves and its not supposed to, Zipties. if doesnt move, and its supposed to, GT85"

"if in doubt, grease it"

Most importantly I'm on the same slot as my dad's sourdough bread session, and I want to make sure I get more people than he does.

😆

I bodged somebody's casette with a zip tie in the alps – a thick zip tie to fill the gap caused my a cross-threaded lock-ring! Any zip tie stories would be interesting and simple

I've only seen 2 catastrophic ride ending problems. Both were due to the lads involved taking their bikes to their LBS for a 'service'.

So a couple of philosophical options… "if it ain't broke don't fix it" or "don't let bike shops anywhere near your bike".

Llama, thanks for the link – wicked read! 8)

Cheers all. That's made me think, I might do a Apollo 13/Now Get Out of That-style challenge – 'here's a broken bike, some zip ties, a bit of a signpost and a milk bottle – pretend you're up on the moors and see if you can fix it'.

bring in some spare ally bolts/nuts and let them strip thread …