On a Tuesday night at Shift Community Cycles in Eugene, people are huddled in groups of two or three in the back. The crowd is a mix of people who want to modify their own wheelchairs and people who want to learn more about fixing them.
One reason for the turnout: Fixing a wheelchair can be difficult and expensive. Shift Community Cycles, a nonprofit bike resource center, recognized a need to teach bike mechanics and wheelchair users how to work on them.
In the class, some are comparing notes on different wheelchair manufacturers, customizations they can make to their chairs, and the feel of different materials like titanium and carbon fiber. Others are crowded around wheelchairs, figuring out possible fixes and trying out different solutions.
The wheelchair maintenance class started when Oregon Spinal Cord Injury Connection received a grant to bring more wheelchair repair classes to cities across Oregon. They collaborated with Shift Community Cycles to bring this monthly workshop to Eugene…