Ian – Common Cycle

2018 Mobile Repair Stand Launch

Sunday, 4/8/2017

Update: As it will be well below 50ºF on 4/8, we will host open hours at our offsite location, the Adventure Leadership Rental Center (“Elbel Building”) on 336 Hill St.
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Ready for some sunlight, the Mobile Repair Stand will resume weekly service alongside our friends at the Sunday Artisan Market on Sunday, 4/8 from 11 AM-3 PM. As always, workstands, tools, and a cadre of volunteer mechanics will be available to help get you rolling for the 2018 season.

If drizzly or sub-50ºF, we will host open hours at our offsite location, the Adventure Leadership Rental Center (“Elbel Building”) on 336 Hill St.

If you have any questions, feel free to send a note to info@commoncycle.org.

Prospective Volunteers / Apprentice Mechanics:
If you’d like to help us teach folks to work on their bikes this year, please let us know by filling out a short form.

Winter 2018 – Common Cycle Women/Trans Workshops

The forecast says it’ll be a whopping 54 degrees this Thursday – perfect conditions under which to schlep your bike down to Adventure Leadership for the next installment of our women/trans program, which is coming up on Thursday, January 11th from 6-8 PM.

This program is an effort to build community, increase access to knowledge around bicycle repair, and to support more gender diversity within the cycling community and within Common Cycle. Of course, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The unofficial topic for January will be brakes, if folks are interested; otherwise, we can tackle a topic that attendees would like to learn about or work on (provided I or someone else in attendance has some background knowledge on the topic).

We’ll be meeting at the Adventure Leadership Rental Center (336 Hill St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104) from 6pm-8pm on Thursday, January 11th. The building doesn’t have great signage, but is on the southwest corner of Hill and Division, right next to the Elbel Field.

No RSVP necessary, but if you are inclined, feel free to let us know that you are coming here.

Full list of women/trans sessions this winter:

Thursday, January 11, 6-8 PM
Thursday, February 8, 6-8 PM
Thursday, March 8, 6-8 PM

Happy riding,
Your Common Cycle buddies

Winter MRS – Brunch & Bikes @ Detroit Street Filling Station, Sunday 1/14/2018

We’re back in Kerrytown for a winter Mobile Repair Stand on Sunday, January 14th.

The folks at the Detroit Street Filling Station have invited us to set up during their brunch hours on 1/14/2018. We’ll have repair stands and volunteer mechanics available from 11 AM-3 PM to help with any mechanical issues, to chip away at some of the winter’s grime or to answer any questions about winter cycling/maintenance.

Drop by for a vegan fritter and/or some chain oil. Which is eaten and which is applied to your bike is up to you.

Details:

Detroit Street Filling Station
300 Detroit St (at corner of Catherine/Detroit)
Sunday, 1/14/2018, 11AM-3PM
(DSFS open for brunch from 10AM-3PM)

Facebook event

Winter 2017-2018 Open Repair Sessions

Seasonal transition is upon us, and the 2017 season for the Mobile Repair Stand has ended (typically, April-October). On the first Sunday of each month from December-March, we’ll be hosting open repair sessions from 11AM-3PM to help keep you rolling. Details –

Location
Adventure Leadership Rental Center (formerly Outdoor Adventures)
336 Hill St
48103
(“Elbel Building” at corner of Hill and Division; entrance at rear)

Time
11AM-3PM

Dates [First Sunday, December-March]
December 3, 2017
January 7, 2018
February 4, 2018
March 4, 2018

Feel free to drop by to work on a winter project, or seek help from our volunteer mechanics.

October 15, 2017 MRS – Location Change

Due to the potential for some unignorable weather this morning/afternoon, our outdoor Mobile Repair Stand in Kerrytown will be moving indoors this Sunday.

We’ll be at our rainout location from 11AM-3PM today; come by and say hello.

Outdoor Adventures Center / Adventure Leadership
336 Hill St (“Elbel Building” at the corner of Hill and Division; entrance in rear)

Fall 2017 – Common Cycle Women’s/Trans’ Workshops

After a brief hiatus, we are ready to offer our next round of women’s/trans’ workshops! This program is an effort to build community, increase access to knowledge around bicycle repair, and to support more gender diversity within the cycling community and within Common Cycle.

We will be hosting our next session on October 12th, at Outdoor Adventures. Of course, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Our first session of the fall will be an open shop. Jayanthi will be doing doing a fix-a-flat tutorial if anyone is interested; otherwise we can tackle a topic that attendees are interesting in learning about, or check out any problems someone is having with their bike.

All fall sessions will be hosted at Outdoor Adventures (336 Hill St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104) from 6PM-8PM. The building doesn’t have great signage, but is on the southwest corner of Hill and Division, right next to Elbel Field.

Feel free to let us know that you are coming or spread the word through the FB event.

Full list of women’s/trans’ sessions this fall:

Thursday, October 12, 6-8 PM
Thursday, November 9, 6-8 PM
Thursday, December 14, 6-8 PM

Excited!
your Common Cycle buddies

[Call for Applications] Fall 2017 Maintenance Course

Common Cycle’s biannual maintenance courses are intended to help train future volunteers and community members by providing hands-on experience and general knowledge about fixing bicycles and assisting people who come to our mobile repair stand.

Common Cycle’s Fall 2017 Maintenance Class will begin Wednesday, October 11th and run on 6 consecutive Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30 in Ann Arbor, concluding on November 15th. Classes will be held at U-M Outdoor Adventures Center, 336 Hill St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. We cover a range of repair and maintenance from basic (e.g. tube change, brake adjustment) to advanced (e.g. hub overhaul, wheel truing).

The course is capped at 15 students so that everyone will have some time and space to do hands-on work. No advance knowledge of bike repair is required, just an interest in learning more. Students may bring in their own bikes which we will diagnose as needed and use for demonstration.

Although this is a low/no-cost course, we ask you to respect the large amount of volunteer work that goes into facilitating and teaching the course. If you are enrolled, we expect you to attend the majority of sessions or make clear in your application if you will not able to attend some sessions. If selected, we expect participants to volunteer at at least two Common Cycle events over the subsequent 12 months.

Application link: https://goo.gl/forms/CmKFGZl0NY78XL722

Applications close Sunday, October 1st. Please respond to info@commoncycle.org with questions.

9/10/2017 Mobile Repair Stand

Temporary Location Change (Sunday, September 10 Only)

This Sunday, September 10 the Artisan Market will be closed for the annual Kerrytown Bookfest. We will be setting up the Mobile Repair Stand in one of our alternative locations: On the western edge of the Community High School grounds, just across N 5th Ave opposite the Market.

We’ll likely be set up somewhere in this region:

We’ll be back wrenching on bikes at the normal location within the Market on Sunday 9/17.

Blue Bikes – Available for Rent

A note from our friends at Adventure Leadership, who rent outdoor equipment to UM students, employees and the general public.

Their Blue Bikes program has bicycles available for daily, weekend and semester rentals. Rates are $12 for the first day and $5 for each additional day; $85 for the semester. A two-month (half-semester) option is available upon request.

The bikes are available at Adventure Leadership, 336 Hill St., Ann Arbor (next to Elbel Field).

2017 Mobile Repair Stand Launch

Sunday, 4/2/2017

Weather-permitting, our Mobile Repair Stand will resume weekly service alongside our friends at the Sunday Artisan Market on Sunday, 4/2 from 11 AM-3 PM. As always, workstands, tools and a cadre of volunteer mechanics will be available to help ensure your bicycle is ready for the 2017 riding season.

CC_Clean + Artisan Market.png

If drizzly or sub-50ºF, we will host open hours at our offsite location at Outdoor Adventures (“Elbel Building”) on 336 Hill St.

If you have any questions, feel free to send a note to info@commoncycle.org; if you’d like to help us teach folks to work on their bikes this year, please fill out the short form at the top of this page.