Originally Posted by on2wheels
My LBS is offering the Park Tool School classes. It's 4 2 hour sessions and costs $75.00. Have any of you taken these classes? I'm looking to pick up enough knowledge to do most of the maintenance on my road bike. Any feedback is appreciated.
I took the Park Tools School and it was
very valuable for me. While I am extremely competent with tools (ex-USAF aircraft mechanic and gunsmith) I am very hands-on and learn much better in a see/do environment. The book given at the school is the Park 'repair manual', the same as on the 'net. There were no qualifications about taking one class before the other, and having the shop mechanic right there to answer my many questions was extremely beneficial. What you will get out of it will be up to you, what I got out of it was the ability to build, maintain and tune our family bikes (6 plus a tandem). I'm now learning how to build wheels, and that's a long road.\
I think a side benefit of taking the Park Tools School is that you are building a better relationship with your mechanic and LBS. They'll realize that you're genuinely interested in your bike, and will I think treat you better.