Jett Grrl Bike Studio blasts off
If you’ve ever taken your bike into the shop, wanting to understand why it’s not working properly, and then found yourself picking it up the next day, thankful it’s back in action, but none the wiser, you may be interested to know about Jett Grrl Bike Studio.
Jett Grrl, launched in 2005 by Tracy Myerson, offers introductory as well as intermediate and advanced courses in bicycle mechanics. The classes are small – about four people – and are designed to allow for hands-on experience and individual attention.
An introductory class covers fixing a flat, drive-train maintenance and a basic brake adjustment. For the majority of people, that is sufficient knowledge to keep a bike running.
“The point of my teaching isn’t necessarily that people are going to want to do it all themselves. It’s more to educate them about what’s involved so that when they walk into a shop they know, ‘Ok my derailleur is worn out or my chain is completely stretched.’ They know what to ask for, they know whether they’re being dealt with honestly and that they’re not being sold unnecessary parts”
Myerson began teaching bicycle mechanics to women in Toronto with a group called Wenches with Wrenches. Teaching six-week mechanics workshops, she discovered that teaching came naturally: “I love being able to give people knowledge and power. . . .The biggest challenge in teaching people is figuring out what each person’s strength is, and where they need help.” Though she has marketed Jett Grrl toward women as a non-intimidating learning environment, about 20 per cent of her students are men.
In addition to her people skills, Tracy has the mechanical chops. She trained at the United Bicycle Institute in Oregon and has worked as a bike store mechanic (most recently at West Point Cycles).
Fixing bicycles – and teaching others how it’s done – is not Tracy’s first career. After several years working as an architect, designer and artist, she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue in a direction that required working full-time at a desk. Her love of bicycles, plus her frustration with the lack of good service available, was the inspiration for Jett Grrl. Ultimately she aims to unite her interests under one roof: “In the long run I would like it to be a part-time teaching studio and part-time art studio.
Jet Grrl is offering introductory bicycle mechanics courses for women April 3 and April 27, May 9 and May 24 (see bicycalendar, pg.38 for times). If you give one of her courses a try, you’ve got nothing to lose: Tracy offers a satisfaction guarantee for her classes.
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