UBI day 9

Today was overhaul day. Basically we stripped a bike down to bits and pieces and built it back up. Not much to report there.
After class we got to check out the custom frame shop.
Pictures of the frame shop are posted below.

UBI day 8

Another day at bike school. Our class spent the day focusing on suspension, frame material, reaming and facing.
We started out with the basics of bicycle suspension. We passed around suspension parts and talked and talked and talked some more about suspension. We capped it off by taking apart a suspension fork and draining the oil. Then we went through the process of topping the oil back off and putting the fork back together.
Next week I will attend the advanced suspension class and go way more in depth and include way more hands on.
Then we discussed frame materials, construction, uses etc.
To end the day we discussed reaming and facing bottom brackets and headsets. We discussed why we do it and the different methods on how to do it. UBI does a solid job at this since they have a frame building shop and have a few master frame builders of staff. To finish we reamed and faced a bottom bracket and then faced a headset.
Below I snapped some pictures from today.

UBI day 7

Today was 8 hours of disc brake bleeding and headsets. We continued from the previous day and bread more and more disc brakes.
After lunch we spent a few hours on headsets. We disassembled, reassembled etc. We worked with threaded, threadless and a few oddballs and took measurements to learn compatibility. I didn't learn anything new except for a few different techniques.

Pictured above is part of my commute to class. Twice a day I get to climb onto a railroad car, jump across to another railroad car and then jump down. This morning they were covered in ice so it was a pain.

After crossing the railroad cars I get to trudge through a muddy field. Just some of the thrills of going to UBI. Yes, I know the picture quality is garbage but its the best I can pull off with an iPhone.

UBI day 6

I went out and explored Ashland Saturday. I went for a 3 hour hike to the top of Looking Glass and did as much of the Crest to Coast trail that I could before running out of daylight. I wasn't able to bring a camera on this hike since it was very damp and raining. Tons of spectacular views and wildlife, I even saw some hippies meditating on top of large rocks.
Sunday I woke up with the plague, I stayed in bed all day and rested.
Today class kicked off for week 2. I woke up extremely sick and wasn't sure if I could go to class. I managed to slowly stumble to the school and survive. Today was brake day(and tomorrow will be too). We did it all from coaster and drum brakes to hydraulic disk brakes. We set up brakes, adjusted brakes, bled brakes and did trouble shooting.

UBI day 5

Today we talked deraileurs.... FOR 8 HOURS! We dicussed the evolution, styles etc. We took them off put the on, adjusted, did troubleshooting etc. I would go into more detail but i don't feel like writing a book.
Pictured above is Murray(the guy standing up). He runs the hostel where we are staying, super nice guy.

Pictured above is my lovely fiance hanging out in the ER at Thomas Hospital.

After class I went to call Katie, no answer, I called my dad and found out that she got in a car accident. It turns out that some teenage girl decided that texting was more important than driving. Luckily she is OK but she should have a horrible headache for the next few days. I wish that I was not on the other side of the country right now but at least she is OK.

UBI day 4

I took a few pictures today to share. I took these with an iPhone so dont expect amazing quality.

Pictured above is the Cycle Hostel. This is where most of us are staying for 3 weeks.

I found a deer in the back yard picking through the garden at the hostel.

Next up is a picture of my sweet whip, this performance machine barely gets my to class. Go ahead and make this picture your desktop background.


Here is a front view of the school.A side view of the school. Notice the solar panels on the roof, the campus is 100% solar powered.

UBI also offers frame building and welding classes. You can show up and build a custom chromoly or titanium frame and take it back home. I plan to come back here and do it in the future,Today we went over chainrings, cassettes, chains, freewheels, cassettes, cassette bodies and bearings. We went through all the different styles. We dissassembled, reassembled and did trouble shooting for it all.

UBI day3

Ashland, OR has been a cool town so far. I've scoped out a few of the trails in the area and checked out some of the local flavor. This place has tons of local beer and coffee shops so it works well for me. Even saw a wild deer walking on the sidewalk through downtown tonight.

I've been staying at the Cycle Hostel which rents out to UBI students only. We have an interesting international crowd here. Guys from China, Brazil, Canada and all over the US including Alaska. They have a few bikes around the hostel for us to get us around town, I've been slaying the streets on a crappy steel single speed with a broken spoke. It beats walking...

Today we focused on bottom brackets, pedals, cranksets and tires.

A majority of the day was spent on cranks and bottom brackets. We did all types of cranks and BB's. We learned the history and evolution of cranks and bottom brackets and worked with them all. I didn't think they could spend more than 6 hours on the subject but they managed. We disassembled, reassembled and did trouble shooting on every single style.

Then we went into pedal styles, overhauls, installation and trouble shooting.

Finally we did tires. We focused on styles, compounds, sizing, tread patterns, tire pressures, changing them etc. Its nice to learn it from instructors who helped evolve tires and worked for the tire company's over the years.

Time for rest, tomorrow looks like it will be a long day of wrenching and learning.