Education
upcoming workshops
7pm to 10pm
May is Bike Month! Bike or walk to the show, and get a raffle ticket! Enjoy community and live music at Free Cycles. Use human power to arrive and get a free ticket to win a variety of sustainable transportation prizes.
Circles of Life: How to True a Wheel
Thursday, May 26th, noon-1pm
At Free Cycles
Keep your wheels in line and riding fine. We'll go over the basics of truing a wheel by adjusting
spoke tension. Led by Bob Giordano
Stop! Disc Brake Seminar
Wednesday, May 18th, 6pm-7pm
at Free Cycles
We will go over the differences of mechanical and hydraulic disc brakes. We with talk about adjusting and servicing. We will end with a hydraulic disc brake bleed demo. Gabe Musson will lead this seminar.
Bike Basics: Upkeep and Flat repair
Wednesday, May 11th, 6pm-7pm
at Free Cycles
Come into Free Cycles and gain the knowledge to keep your bike in action and your wheels rolling! We will cover a few basic tips and tricks to keep your bike running smoothly and delve into fixing flats and replacing tubes, an essential life skill for staying on the road! Lead by Jon Hulburt.
Wednesday, May 4th, 6-8pm
at Free Cycles
G.E.M. is a gathering of women and non-binary people interested in learning hands-on bicycle repair skills. We ask that males come to Free Cycles another time. All skill levels welcome! Bring your own bike and snacks. Free Cycles can provide a bicycle for learning purposes if anyone needs one. If the weather is nice, we will host outside! Be ready to get greasy. Free admission, yet donations are appreciated. Led by Emily Jensen with the help of incredible volunteers.
The One and Only
Single Speed Conversion Clinic
Wednesday, May 25th, 6pm-7pm
At Free Cycles
For a simple bike set up for getting around town, whether your commuting to work or going to have fun with friends, a single speed is a reliable and easy option for quick trips. Join us as we learn how to convert an old road bike to a single speed. Simon McCullough will lead this clinic.
Free Cycles leads a monthly workshop to help women and non-binary people become more confident when working on their bicycle. Bring your bike, your questions, food and/or drink to share and enjoy the camaraderie of other women interested in being more independent with their bikes. Please feel free to stop by anytime between 530-730pm, if you can't make it at the beginning, it's no problem!
Free admissions, yet donations are appreciated. Free Cycles can provide bicycles for people to work on if needed. This is a great hands-on introductory workshop to learn and practice repair skills on your bicycle.
*This month we will focus on winter maintenance and repair!
Hosted with the help of Women Bike Missoula. Women Bike Missoula brings women together to make bicycling possible to more women and girls by sharing our knowledge, experiences, and the joy of biking.
*You must register to participate in this event!
We are offering 20 community members a chance to fabricate pedal powered machines in a 5 day session (for 5 Saturdays over 5 weeks) at Free Cycles, starting October 19th and ending on November 16th.
This in depth workshop will be offered on a donation income-based sliding scale of $95-$500. This workshop is funded in part by The Montana Arts Council. Your donation will help cover the costs of subsidized instructor time, supplies, and utilities.
Registration is open to all ages and abilities (though those under 15 will have to be accompanied by an adult). Participants will be introduced to the industrial processes that go into fabricating their bicycles at the commercial level. They will have an opportunity to learn how to use the tools of metal working to suit their individual creative needs.
Participant learners will be guided by expert instructors through the design of their pedal powered machines. Tool stations will be set up to accommodate many people working at once, with each monitored by skilled volunteers to ensure the participants safety and assist in any tool use questions which may arise.
Jesse Blumenthal was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended UMass Amherst earning a BFA in Sculpture in 2007, and completed his graduate work at The University of Montana earning an MFA in 2019. Jesse made the high mountains of Southwestern Colorado his home base for both studio and community based art practices, rooted in the industrial arts, for almost a decade before moving to Montana in 2016. Jesse's work explores the Anthropocene by reflecting on the strains of the spaces between man and his environment. As an artist living in the west for the majority of his adult life, his recent work explores industrial materials and consumer technology in interdisciplinary arrangements that reflect on the natural environment. The clash of the natural represented within the inherently processed human material creates an ironic tension in the work. Embracing opportunity for community engagement, through the opportunities working in industrial material offers, has broadened the reach and accessibility of Blumenthal's practice. The open inclusion of participants into Blumenthal's artistic practice references contemporary political, social, and artistic movements.
James Walter has over a decade of experience in industrial and ornamental metal fabrication. He is an avid local bicycle advocate, serving on the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Board andthe nonprofit Pedal Missoula board. He is also an active participant in Missoula's frequent iron pour art events.
“The names Garrett Kelly, I've Lived in Missoula County 29 of my 30 years. I have been art oriented the whole while. I was educated through the University of Montana's Art Program with an emphasis in sculpture. My interests have directed me toward the intersection of form and utility, and how these two aspects seem to build the framework of how we interact with an object. I was introduced to Free Cycles, M.I.S.T., and the Missoula Urban Development Project, at a very early age. I believe the interactions I had with these organizations built the ground work for the way that i make art. My artistic practice is focused around utilizing and repurposing discarded materials or "rusty gold", as i like to refer to it, using what has been tossed aside to create useful goods and tools for my kith and kin.”
We are offering 20 community members a chance to fabricate pedal powered machines in a two-day, weekend at Free Cycles. The workshop will start at 10am on Saturday, August 10th. After a full day of fun, participants are welcome to stay until 6pm that day. Then, from 10am-6pm, the crew will go back at it on Sunday, August 11th. All materials and tools will be provided.
This workshop will be offered on a donation income-based sliding scale of $15-$100. This workshop is funded in part by The Montana Arts Council. Your donation will help cover the costs of subsidized instructor time, supplies, and utilities. It also helps us continue to offer such workshops in the future!
Registration is open to all ages and abilities (though those under 15 will have to be accompanied by an adult). Participants will be introduced to the industrial processes that go into fabricating their bicycles at the commercial level. They will have an opportunity to learn how to use the tools of metal working to suit their individual creative needs.
Participant learners will be guided by expert instructors through the design of their pedal powered machines. Tool stations will be set up to accommodate many people working at once, with each monitored by skilled volunteers to ensure the participants safety and assist in any tool use questions which may arise.
We are offering 20 community members a chance to modify or adorn their steel bicycles in a whirlwind day of creation. If you register, you will be encouraged to transform your own cycles or Free Cycles material into works of creative expression using our tools and guidance. These works of art will be used as demonstration pieces for the Missoula community.
This workshop will be offered free of charge! It is open to all ages and abilities (though those under 15 will have to be accompanied by an adult). Participants will be introduced to some of the industrial processes that go into fabricating their bicycles at the commercial level. They will have an opportunity to learn how to use the tools of metal working to suit their individual creative needs.
Participant learners will be guided by our lead artist for the Artist In Residency program, Jesse Blumenthal, (and skilled volunteers) through the design of the creative adornment or modification they envision for their bicycle. The rest of the day will be an all out fabrication frenzy! Tool stations will be set up to accommodate many people working at once, with each monitored by skilled volunteers to ensure the participants safety and assist in any tool use questions which may arise.
Examples of past Free Cycles art projects using recycled materials. From left to right: Trophies made for MTB Missoula, a 4-wheel, 2-seater pedal powered vehicle made from old kids bikes and bed frames, a wheel dome sculpture displayed in Caras Park, and a 3-wheel, 2-seater vehicle we have dubbed “The Riot Trike.”
Join us at the shop on the evening of Wednesday, April 19th for a discussion about the relationship between bicycles and public land. IMBA (International Mountain Bicycling Association) Advocacy Manager for the Northern Rockies and local rider Eric Melson, will be giving a presentation outlaying the current state of bicycle advocacy, the complexities of relating to different land managers, and how you can get involved with trail work and advocacy on a local level. This will be followed by a Q&A based discussion.
Free of charge, but donations appreciated.
Plan to come to Free Cycles for a Fix-a-Flat and Spring Cleaning workshop. Emily Jensen, assisted by some MizzBs members, will lead participants through basic flat tire changing and cleaning of chain and drives. All participants will receive a self-adhesive patch kit, thanks to a donation from Adventure Cycling Association. Recruit your friends, bring your bikes and beverages, and come prepared to share your questions or answers. Snacks to share welcome!
No charge, donations appreciated!
Come learn the basic skills you need to keep your bike happy. We will go over everything from bike anatomy, lubricating and cleaning, to tire patching and chain replacement, followed by a Q&A session. The class will be taught by either John or Locke, with guest mechanic Tom McKean.
No signup necessary, just show up to the shop. Be ready to get your hands dirty, and think about bringing a pen and paper, as well as your own bike.
Free of charge, but as always, donations are greatly appreciated.
Commute in Missoula winters with confidence and style! Come on by and learn some tips and hints to make some DIY snow tires!
