Kids in Donegal can look forward to a wheelie good summer thanks to a local bike mechanic who’s busy fixing chains and keeping them on the go.
Cess Holden from Little Spanners in Glenties has the tools and skills to revive old bikes to get kids off the screens and outside for a summer of fun.
Whether it’s a puncture, rusty chains or broken brakes, Cess can sort any bike issue at affordable prices.
Cess is already well known for her school days, where she visits schools and services kids’ bikes while they are in their lessons.
Now that the summer is here, she is offering three levels of service: mini, midi or maxi. Cess will soon be launching a workshop calendar in community centres and coffee shops across Donegal. The calendar will be finalised based on participants, so we keep your travel to a minimum.
Services:
- Mini is €20 and includes puncture repair, chain clean and lubrication, brake block adjustment and checking all nuts and bolts are tight.
- Midi is €30 and includes all of the above + a child specific bike fit for your child, which will get their seat, handlebars and brake levers aligned to their size and ability.
- Maxi is €50 and includes all of the above + the replacement of any cables & inner tubes, adding of accessories like stabilisers and basket, and also includes a full gear indexing to make your front and back gears work.
Cess also does a bike assembly service. If you’ve bought a bike at Aldi or Smyths Toys or a bike shop and it’s come flat packed, she’ll put it together for you safely for €20.
Cess Holden from Little Spanners
Don’t want to pay every time?
Then join one of the Little Spanners parent workshops where Cess will show you simple things that require no specialist tools, but will make a massive difference to your child’s bike. Including how to repair a puncture and stop it from puncturing again straight away. Just bring yourself and your child’s bike. If none of the dates suit, then get a gang of your friends together and Cess can come to a location that suits you – including your own garden!
Cost: €10 per person with 1 bike or €15 for someone bringing 2 bikes. We operate a minimum of 10 bikes and maximum of 15.
Cess Holden from Little Spanners
Cess’ Business Story:
Cycling enthusiast Cess is one of Donegal’s few female bike mechanics. She’s no stranger to endurance challenge,s including the Donegal Ultra 555 Solo and Mizen to Malin non-stop.
“As my love of cycling has grown, so has my fleet of bikes, and so has my need to maintain them. But I could barely even fix a puncture. My extremely patient friend, Antony, painstakingly showed me how to keep on top of everything. Each time something needed fixing on one of my bikes, we mended it together under his supervision. My knowledge started to grow and so did my collection of tools.”
Cess now holds a Level 2 City & Guilds qualification in Bicycle Mechanics.
Cess leading a Little Spanners School Workshop
“As a fully trained, but still very green mechanic, the next step was to get experience. I was blessed to do my work experience in local national schools servicing kids bikes while they were in lessons. It was a win win situation. Kids got their bikes serviced and I learned my trade. And here I also found my niche,” she said.
“And so Little Spanners was born. Little Spanners because I specialise in kids’ bikes. And Little Spanners as a nod to how it all started. Antony will always be Big Spanners.
“Little Spanners offers service & repairs for kids bikes. We do adult bikes too, but our specialist services are:
- National School Visits – I come into your school for a day. The kids bring their bike to school and I service them while they are in lessons. If you want, I can also provide cycling safety talks or demonstrations where each child can help with their own bike.
- Adult Education Sessions – Parents don’t have the time, the tools or the knowledge to maintain their kids bikes. Our 2 hour workshop gives you big bang for your buck. We’ll teach you how to keep those little bikes roadworthy with the bare minimum of effort.
- Mini Bike Fit – Do you know how high your child’s seat should be, what angle the brake levers should be for little hands, how high the handlebars should be? We’ll do the adjustments and have their bikes set up just for them.
- Bike Repairs and Servicing – at my garage workshop or in a pop-up location. We cover the whole of Donegal.
If you need a bike repair or wish to host a workshop, contact Little Spanners on 083 864 9579 or email cess@littlespanners.ie
Follow @littlespanners on social media for updates on local workshops.
Little Spanners Workshops available to book
