Tag Archives: Park Tool

Put more smiles on children's faces by volunteering with Free Bikes 4 Kidz to clean, prep, or wrench some of the 5,000 bicycles collected this last month.

Put smiles on kid’s faces by helping prep FB4K bike giveaway

If you live near or close to the Twin Cities, help the Free Bikes 4 Kidz (FB4K) bike giveaway program in its 15th year. Volunteer to help put more smiles on children’s faces. Donate your time to help clean, prep, or wrench some of the thousands of bicycles collected this year for their distribution drive before the holidays and in the spring.

This FB4K bike giveaway helps put more smiles on kid’s faces

Free Bikes for Kids helps kid's smile with the 2016 season Bike Collection Day, on Saturday, October 8th, Donate your bikes to help more kids.

FB4K helps kids smile with their annual Bike Collection Day a few weeks ago

As more become interested in eco-friendly lifestyles, Free Bike 4 Kidz proudly continues to prepare bicycles to give away and invites you to join them by helping to clean, prep, and wrench bikes in their warehouse. They need your help today to get the bicycles out to the kids expecting them for this annual bike giveaway on December 9th.

freeBy volunteering today to help clean some bikes for FB4K's will help create some fond memories for you and future memories for children who receive them. bikes4kids-4

Create some fond memories for yourself and for the children who receive them.

Meet new and old friends as you volunteer. FB4K’s need your help now!

Volunteering and putting a wrench to a few bikes will create more smiles.

Volunteering and cleaning or wrenching some bikes will create a smile on your face and the kids who get them. We will continue to have volunteer opportunities in the future, but helping now will ensure the kids waiting for bikes will all have wheels before Christmas. Schedule your shifts today by clicking here to Volunteer or schedule as a group.

Join Free Bike 4 Kids today and put more smiles on kids’ faces!

About Free Bikes 4 Kidz

Free Bikes 4 Kidz is a non-profit organization geared toward helping all kids ride into a happier, healthier childhood by providing free bikes to those most in need. When the public donates gently used bikes, FB4K organizes thousands of volunteers to clean, refurbish, and give them away to needy kids. They started in 2008 by fixing and giving away 300 bikes. In 2014, they reached the goal of 5,000 bikes. In the last several years, over 30,000 bikes have rolled through FB4B’s giveaways, and their sights in the future are set on other locations throughout the U.S. and the world. See more at http://fb4k.com/about/

Do you have a bike or two taking up space and collecting dust? Is so, consider donating them to Free Bikes for Kids (FB4K) for their annual drive to help kids smile.

Help a kid smile, donate any old bikes you have this Saturday

Do you have a bike or two collecting dust, taking up space and no longer needed? If so, consider donating them to Free Bikes 4 Kids (FB4K) for their 11th annual drive, putting more smiles on kids faces. For those who have already donated extra bikes laying around, you can still help by volunteering to get the bikes ready. Their goal this year is to collect more than 10,000 bikes to hand out, can you help?

FB4K helps kids smile by donating your bike

Free Bikes for Kids help kids smile with the 2016 season Bike Collection Day, on Saturday, October 8th, Donate your bikes to help more kids.

FB4K is on a mission to see 10,000, plus smiles from all the bikes they will collect this Saturday.

The kick-off to the 2018 Bike Collection Day is on Saturday, October 6th. To make this year a success they need both your old bike(s) and help to get the bikes ready.

Helping FB4K’s put more smiles on kids faces is pedaling philanthropy

Don’t have a bike to donate? Join them at their warehouse, in Brooklyn Center, over the next two months. Sign-up for a shift or two, at a time that works with your schedule. Just open this volunteer link and answer a few questions so you can help with the 10,000 plus bikes that will be dropped off and moved to their warehouse this Saturday. Come on your own or bring your crew when you volunteer. Sign-up today to secure your spot. The more, the merrier!

Free Bikes for Kids helps kids smile so please help by volunteering to clean or wrench on some bikes if you can't help with bike donation.

Join the fun, help clean or wrench on some of the used bikes like these guys.

The warehouse, at 5930 Earle Brown Drive in Brooklyn Center, is where volunteers will clean, refurbish and give a final quality control check to each bike donated. Be a cleaner, an organizer, or a mechanic for a shift or two or more. Volunteer on your own or line up a large group. FB4K will be open seven days a week, so get involved today. Email Riely the Volunteer Coordinator, at riley@fb4k.org  he can help schedule your group.

About Free Bikes 4 Kidz

Free Bikes 4 Kidz is a non-profit organization geared toward helping all kids ride into a happier, healthier childhood by providing bikes to those most in need. The public donates gently used bikes. Then, they organize thousands of volunteers to clean and refurbish them before they give them away to kids in need. So really, FB4K helps kids smile.

In 2008 they gave away 300 bikes and last year there were over 9,316 bicycles collected and given out to children in December. In the last 10 years over 50,000 bikes have rolled through their giveaways. That is a lot of smiles on kids faces!

Though the generous help of key partners like Allina Health, QBP, Penn Cycle, Park Tool, Nice Ride MN, and others, FB4K has gone far. But they still need your support in building the foundation and to help every kid ride into a more memorable childhood.

Do your part making kids smile, see more at  FB4K.org/

An emergency bike tire boot repair option

Brad Kopp, One ten Cycles Service Manager/Assistant Store Manager

The inevitable truth is that every avid cyclist has, or will eventually have, a flat while riding and need a bike tire boot repair. When considering a repair the key is to identify the cause of the flat and resolving the issue before continuing with an inner tube replacement. Having the right tools and knowledge will help get you rolling down the trail safely again.

A bike tire boot repair option

Identifying the need for a bike tire boot repair from a blow out.

Identifying the need for a bike tire boot repair from a blow out.

The type of hole in the inner tube can give you an idea of whether a tire boot is necessary. A small pinhole would indicate a puncture via thorn, wire, glass etc.  Two small cuts on either side of the tube indicate a pinch flat caused by too low of pressure and an impact with a rock or pothole. In most cases, these scenarios do not necessitate a tire repair.

Identifying a blowout

Installing a bike tire boot when you need to repair from a blow out.

Installing a bike tire boot when you need to repair from a blow out.

A blowout can be identified by a large shredded hole or a long horizontal slit, commonly caused by a ripped tire or improperly seated tire bead. Failure to repair the tire casing in the event of a blowout could allow your new inner tube to protrude from the tire and flat immediately. It’s possible to temporarily repair a tire with a boot such as Park Tool’s TB-2. It should be noted that booted tires should be replaced as soon as possible.

Take the following steps to repair a damaged tire:

  1. Temporarily repair a tire with a boot such as Park Tool’s TB-2.

    Temporarily repair a tire with a boot such as Park Tool’s TB-2.

    Locate cut or tear in tire.

  2. Clean inside of tire around tear (alcohol wipes work excellent).
  3. Locate and remove emergency tire boot backing.
  4. Place patch over damaged tire casing, making sure not to overlap the tire bead.
  5. Firmly press down patch.
  6. Re-install tire and tube.

Pro Tip: Also inspect for rim strip failure in the event of a blowout. A damaged rim strip can sometimes be emergency repaired with a section of a TB-2 patch.=-09876543.

For more questions related to keeping your bike in top shape, stop in an see Brad at One ten Cycles, On Highway 100, west of the 35E Freeway in Mendota Heights, MN.