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- A bicycle of your own: buy, rent or share
- Why help participants get their own bikes?
Why help participants get their own bikes?
By helping participants get their own bike, you ensure they grow into frequent cyclists. You cash in on the impact of your lessons. So work around bike ownership already during your lesson series.
Research by De Fietsschool shows a whole number of participants stop cycling after the end of cycling lessons, even if they had mastered the skill well by the end of the lesson series.
The lack of a good bike is a major reason for this. Interviews with participants and local cycling schools suggest that there are several barriers when it comes to accessing a quality bicycle.
For example, participants do not always know which bike to buy, where to find an affordable bike, where to store a bike safely, where to get a broken bike repaired, etc.
Thresholds
Common barriers for participants are:
- Participants buy a second-hand bike online that fits within their limited budget, without trying it out first. Afterwards, they find that the cost to repair that bike is higher than the purchase value of the bike.
- Participants buy a new bicycle in the supermarket at a relatively low price. They quickly experience problems due to the low quality of materials used, and cannot easily go to a local bicycle repair shop for repairs.
- Participants buy a bicycle that is too small or too big, and therefore does not cycle well.
- Participants give up cycling because their bike does not ride pleasantly, while minor repairs to flat tyres, dragging wheels or rusty chains would make a world of difference. However, the cost of such minor repairs deters many.
- Participants suffer relatively often from bicycle theft or vandalism because they cannot safely park their bikes in their own homes.
Actions and activities from your cycling school
Given these barriers, it is important as a cycling school to set up actions and activities for new cyclists during your class series, or at the end, that allow access to a bike of their own. Therefore, pay attention to:
- Actions that ensure participants have their own bike after the lessons are over. For example, organise a workshop around bike ownership.
- Coaching of participants so that they make a thoughtful choice when buying their first bike, tailored to their budget and usage needs. Give them buying tips, for example. And look together for possible financial support via the PCSW or Social House, or via the participant's employer (company bicycle, bicycle allowance, leasing, etc.).
- Training on bicycle maintenance and repair, so that participants can spot minor defects themselves, carry out minor repairs, or know where to go for repairs.
- Information on what participants can do in case of bicycle theft or vandalism, and how to prevent it.
By paying attention to these themes, you ensure that your participants grow into frequent cyclists after the lesson series. In other words, you are cashing in on the impact of your lessons.
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