Downland Cycles advanced bike mechanic course, update 12/7/15

[jonnyboy666]

so as some of you know i am being made redundant, my last day is at the end of july, my employer has been pretty good regarding re-training etc so i applied to the HR dept for funding for the advanced mechanic course here as i'm likely to go back to the bike trade in some form. when they ok'd the cost of the course at £1250 i was really pleased, all i have to pay is the accommodation and the fuel to get from southampton to canterbury.

so anyway, this is my second day and i thought i'd do a bit of a review so far

the workshop, my bench is at the end of the room (where my green ST4 is) the main tools are on the wall mounted board and various other specialist tools like bleed kits etc are in the drawers under the bench.


P1130390 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr


P1130389 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr


P1130386 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr


P1130388 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr


day 1 was all about hub gears, some people may see this as pointless in a world dominated by derraileur gears but with the rise of nexus and alfine hubs in the last few years knowing about them is definitely worthwhile especially if a shop is based in a city like london

we started on sturmey archer hubs, very old school but a good place to start as lets face it they were the first design, Martin (the instructor) made these seem simple, i had previously stripped them but it was over 10 years ago so i didn't remember much about them but after stripping and rebuilding the same hub 4 times i found that i was down to about 15mins in the end! amazing really, but what else is good is that Martin also explained things to look out for that cause issues and how to correct them and gave advice on suggested servicing prices and what to do as part of a standard service. one other good thing is that Martin has been showing us a lot of random little tips that really help, things that once you do seem so obvious. we also looked at the various types and models including the specific brompton sturmey hub aswel as the drum brake version.


P1130377 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1130376 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1130379 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1130380 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1130381 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

after this we went on to stripping out nexus 8 speed hubs and alfine 11 hubs, for those that don't know these require less overall maintenance in a service but again Martin showed us the parts that are prone to wear and what would be replaced as part of a service, i was glad to see this as my new Demon will have an alfine 11 hub gear.

as well as servicing the hubs themselves we are taught the correct set up when in bikes, as all these hubs have different set ups for the cable tension etc, again we were told about common issues, most of which seem to be user based because people have these parts on their bikes but are unaware of the correct adjustments to make them function correctly let alone the ability to service them, not to mention the cost of the tools!

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

so, onto day 2 (today)

today was about servicing suspension forks, Martin went through some basics, preload, rebound, compression, and various other correct terms for all things to do with suspension, this also included some information on oils and greases and the correct places to use them.

the first fork we worked on was a rockshox recon, last years model, this was to learn lower servicing, so 4 times i removed and refitted the lowers which included removing the seals and foam rings, the key here is doing things a few times so you remember it, Martin showed us things to look for like corrosion and also explained that in some cases rockshox have on occasion (due to a busy factory) have sent forks out to dealers with hardly any oil in them! which having done a fork at my old shop a week or so which was bought from CRC online where hardly any oil came out i am not surprised!

after this we moved on to reba dual air forks, the idea here was to strip and rebuild the entire fork as opposed just the lowers. the lower removal was the same as the recons with the exception of the lower bolts being further up inside the lowers of the forks which could be a pain to get to. once the lowers were off we then removed the air cap and the motion control unit at the top of the forks then then drained out the damper oil, after this we removed the air unit and also the rebound damper unit. everything gets cleaned and inspected and reassembled with the correct oils and greases and tightened to the correct torque etc.

Martin also showed us where to find various information regarding oil amounts for each fork.


P1130384 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1130382 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1130385 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1130383 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

once i stripped and rebuilt this fork 3 times and then moved on to doing a lower service on my rebas in my ST4 and also a lower service and seal replacement on a pair of forks i brought with me for a friend. so there are personal benefits to being here in that you can get your own stuff done aswel.

 

[NeilM]

Re:

Excellent write up.

Looking forward to day 3.

 

[The History Man]

Re: Downland Cycles advanced bike mechanic course

Enjoying this.

 

[johntomjoe]

Re: Downland Cycles advanced bike mechanic course

I was made redundant in may and job seeking,but at 51 there's not a lot about,but if I can persuade a cycle shop to take me on ,JSA will pay for training,even though I've been working on bikes since 1971 ! ,still need certificate

your course looks good

 

[retroyetirigid]

Re: Downland Cycles advanced bike mechanic course

You can tell thats a Sunrace Sturmey, the internals are much better finished

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

yeah this was a newer improved sturmey, they have changed some of the components to avoid some of the common issues the hubs used to have, also makes them better to work on.

today (3rd day) is a continuation of suspension, rear shock air sleeve servicing and also pros and cons of various suspension designs.

currently having breakfast, the day in the workshop starts at 9am

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Re:

So you can work on the Reba Dual air now eh?

You know ... you being my bestest friend in the whole wide world and all ... I was wondering if you could help me out with something ...

I really should get started on lowering my own Rebas. I have the tools, the spacers, the complete revision kit, the right oil and even the Redrum ... but not the courage. I know I don't even need to touch the damper, but it still looks like sorcery.




anyway, back on topic : I wish they had courses like that here, I'd happily pay that fee myself.

 

[REKIBorter]

Re: Downland Cycles advanced bike mechanic course

I'll pop my Fox F32's round for you to practice on tomorrow.

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

@raging bulls, they're so easy! one of the things they do here is make you repeat work, rebas, recons etc are all simple once you know the steps, when i get home i'll add to this thread a little how to guide for a few things to prove that 1, it sunk in and 2, it's possible to do stuff at home.

@reki, basically the attitude is that with fox, you just service the lowers, wipers, foam ring seals and that's it, anything more and they go to Mojo or Tf tuned, the reason for this is that unlike rockshox the fox units are a sealed system

today though day 3 on the course we had a continuation of suspension systems, initially it was stripping and servicing a rock shox monarch shock and a fox rp3/rp23 rear shock, OH MY GOD! simple is not even the word, it's so simple that i feel guilty for not doing it on my 2 full suspension bikes.

i have taken some pics but i'll add them tomorrow as i have homework to do! remember this is an affiliated course to Canterbury college so it's properly assessed and marked.

after servicing shocks we were taken through the shock set up procedure for individual customers by setting up bikes for each other (there are 4 students in total) this included discussions on "sag" and the relevance of it. recommended sag by the suspension brands versus personal preference etc
we then rode up and down a small off road hill 3 times, 1st time with all rebound on front and rear, then all rebound off front and rear and then in the middle of the rebound range front and rear, this was to show in an exaggerated way the differences of the extremes even if you set the pressure/preload correctly how good/bad the bike can still feel if these adjustments are made incorrectly.

after this we then looked at the pros and cons of different suspension designs, single pivot, four bar, faux bar, vpp, fpp (same as vpp sort of) linkage designs, the list goes on but most are a variation on a type.

after this we then had an older suspension frame which we stripped the bearings out of to learn that, huge learning curve today!

got to go, dinner is served!!