Jayden Cooper was a great help during our KCC camp, fixing peoples bikes and helping out with several mechanical situations. We asked “Coops” how he learnt how to fix bikes.

How do you know so much about bike mechanics Coops?  Can you tell us what bike mechanics course you have done.

I have always been fascinated with how my bike works and is put together. I started to learn how my bike works when I got my first bike book and started working on my families bikes. I learnt a lot of my knowledge from youtube and just fixing my own bikes. I have not done  many mechanics course but I’m looking forward to doing the Shimano di2 course.

What bike shop do you work at?  How often do you work there?

When I was about 14, I started to look for a part time job. I didn’t want to work at Coles or Woolworths so I went on the hunt for a job at a bike shop, and got my job as a mechanic at a shop called ‘ibikes Australia’. It is in Oakleigh. I work most Saturdays and Sundays (after riding at Glenvale). Ibikes have been very supportive of me and have given me great discounts.

How long have you been working at this shop?\

I have been working at Ibikes for about 7 months.  I started on kids bikes and have moved my way up to road bikes. (I don’t much like working on kids bikes!).

Can you list out the things you fixed during the camp?

On the Kelly camp I had to do a few things for some of the athletes. Alex thought it would be a great idea to put his hand into his moving wheel, and buckled his wheel so I had to dive into Bob’s tool kit, dust the cobwebs off Bob’s spoke key and true Alex’s wheel. The mountain goat (Drew) snapped a cable on one of the rides and just had the limited options of  the  big and small chain ring to ride for the next 80km. So I had to fix his cable that evening so he had more gears to choose from.  I also fixed a lot of small things like putting cassettes on, tightening aero bars and taking off gear restrictions.

What tools do you like to use?

The tools I like to us are park tools and pedros and I also like to uses kinchrome tools (they are not cycling tools but they produce good tool boxes and things like screwdrivers and sockets). I leant the hard way that if you buy cheep tools like bikehand they just break.

Did you learn anything from the other senior cyclists during the camp?  If so, what?

I learnt from Carol that you should remove two word from your vocabulary, can’t and never.

What was your favourite rides we did on the camp?

My favourite ride on the camp was when we went up Mt Hotham.

Who were you sharing a room with?

I was sharing a room with Ben and Pierce. I didn’t get much sleep (Ben dose not stop talking and Pierce snores)

What afternoon activities did you enjoy?

The activity I enjoyed the most was river waking. It was cold but we all had a good laugh.

What was your favourite food?

My favourite food was the waffles we hade for breakfast. I enjoyed the food but I don’t think I liked it as much as Ash did.

Would you like to go on another camp if we held more during the next school holidays?

I would love to go on another camp. But next time I’m bring my tools Bob!