Wheel Women and Bike Repairs
On any given Wednesday evening or Sunday afternoon, RAD Bikes is packed with people learning how to repair their bike or build one from scratch. This isn’t your typical shop — nor do we claim to be. We’re just your average shed, built from the sweat of an oily rag, run by volunteers, and on a mission to recycle or reuse dungers (old bikes that need love).
RAD Bikes has 8–9 volunteers on hand on any given day; busy bees helping people take apart their steeds and put them back together. Crazy thing is, half the core volunteer group are women. Truly a rad thing! We don’t run a tight ship or anything. Yet, everyone chips in where they can.
You see, this is a rare thing in the bike world. Bike shops and repair worksheds are a male-dominated place. Cycling is a male dominated sport and can get quite intimidating if you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been told to “let your man change your tyre” before or “these trails are too hard for ladies like you”. Just this weekend, a cashier commented on how I must have chosen the gloves I bought because they had fabric for me to text and ride my bike. Never mind the fact that I ride everyday and I was buying new gloves because my other commuter gloves were worn down.
I’ve experienced my fair share of sexism even as a volunteer at a shed. As awesome of a place the shed is, we’re never too far from the next sexist comment. Some guys at the shed have commented on a chick they want to help because her “tits were huge” and they enjoyed watching her bend over. I sometimes ask for help (unapologetically) and am belittled by a simple inquiry. I am there to learn about bikes and I never claimed to know a lot about bikes but when a guy laughs at me for asking a question, my confidence hits rock bottom and I want to give up. Fuck those guys!
So to combat the bullshit that comes with a sexist environment like that, I keep these comments top of mind and reach out to every person who comes to the shed with a helpful, friendly attitude. I don’t assume anyone knows more or less than me and I make a special point to teach women the basics. If a woman shows up to repair a missing spoke, I admit that I can’t help and politely hand her off to someone who knows how (usually a male). I check in with her periodically to make sure she’s not feeling left out (some guys take over the entire job and miss a perfect teaching opportunity to look ‘manly’) and see if she’s learning anything new — because that’s what it’s all about at RAD Bikes.
That worked for awhile. But I wasn’t there during every open session and I worried women would be turned off from coming by because they felt excluded or intimidated. So we started Wheel Womyn Wednesday. It’s a dedicated side-session on the second Wednesday of every month where a female volunteer of the shed teaches others about basic bike maintenance skills. Everyone and anyone is welcome. We get down and diry and it’s rad. Duh!
Yesterday was our first session. Three women showed up to learn about tyres and tubes. Simple. We went over the parts of a tube and tyre, removed a wheel from the frame, took the tyre off and the tube out of the tyre, mocked a puncture repair, and replaced everything in reverse. It’s basic stuff but something I didn’t learn until 6 months ago (probably because my man was changing my tyres!). Most of the women at the session had never done it before either. They loved it and learned something new. The other female volunteers helped field questions and get hands-on and dirty with the other ladies. We bonded over bike repair. It felt so good to get something like that going.
Our session will be about brakes taught by my fellow female volunteer, Lena. Keep an eye on our facebook page for details.
