Tatiana Reports Back From UofQ Bicycle Mechanic School
As mentioned in our intro post on bike mechanic school for Wheelhouse’s “management team,” Tati and Kelli determined that their own increased mechanical knowledge could only help increase the shop’s overall efficiency. To that end, Tati applied to the Quality Bicycle Parts (QBP) Women’s Mechanic Scholarship…back in 2014…and didn’t get selected. Not to be thwarted, she submitted an application four more times before being selected for a 2020 session at what was then known as Barnett Bicycle Institute (BBI) (est. in 1986).
Things happened pretty quickly at that juncture. QBP itself acquired BBI (now it’s called U of Q Institute). Then, Tati’s March 2020 class was one of the first cancellations of the pandemic (after the NBA season, of course).
After multiple attempts to reschedule, she was finally able to attend November 1 to 12 at the school’s Colorado Springs HQ. After - of course - a flight delay and lost luggage, she began her technical, mechanical, cerebral journey.
In her own words, here is Tati on her experience at UofQ:
I am A.D.D. I am a daydreamer. I am a hell of a multi-tasker. I always say you can't be good at everything. School!? Hard and humbling! I used to think I knew a lot about bikes, being in the industry for almost a decade and all. Nope. It's a good thing that my favorite human emotion is humility: I'm really not afraid of being wrong or taking advice; I got that going for me and, thankfully because of that, I learned so much on my two-week adventure to a place I had never been to, where I knew nobody, and only had a rental bike to get around. Which, by the way - acclimating to elevation is INSANE. I barely slept my first week in Colorado Springs. It was a pattern. Try to sleep, get up, get dressed, ride my bike to class, stay for about 9 hours, seek food (green chili, though!), hit Happy Hour at my home base, the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, and study. So much studying on my 'ol reliable laptop that I had to boot a virtual machine on just to run the DX manual* - that's dedication, no?
I learned a lot in school about a lot of things we don't personally, as a shop, see on a daily basis (think fancier and newer). It was awesome. Some of my favorites were Wheel Building/Truing Radial & Lateral/Dish/Tension to manufacturer specifications (okay, Rob and Judith do this stuff all of the time but it was new to me, hahhh!) and, robot derailleurs - yes, robots! Think the Roomba of bike derailleurs e.g., Shimano D2 systems! Hydraulic brake systems, tuning in high-end mountain bike suspension systems, and bleeding brake systems (3 different ways!). All so very cool! So many systems, so many manufacturers, so many specifications. "Why don't bike mechanics get paid more!?" was one of my genuine first thoughts. We were torquing in Newton Meters and getting things fine-tuned to within a millimeter. It was rocket science for bikes - SO much math!All of my instructors were great - I couldn't ask for better instructors. Huge shout out to Jeff, Mike, Seth, and Flash at U of Q! It's almost as if they could read my mind and facial expressions, even while wearing a mask. They knew when I didn't grasp something somehow and came over to personally explain it to me in a different way where my brain could comprehend it. I'm so grateful for them and the whole experience. Jeff, Flash, myself, and Torie of Buffalo Lodge even did a podcast together!
My classmates? Awesome! A nice mix of 4 dudes and 3 of us gals, from all over the US of A. Though sometimes it felt like it was a Hell's Kitchen competition, we stood in solidarity. My favorite moment together besides graduation was our first Friday, at the end of the first week. We made a pact that whoever finished last on their wheel assessment, we would hook them up with a ton of beer after the school day came to an end. Luckily, three of us finished last at the exact same moment. They were all incredibly talented and SWEET human beings and I will never forget them.
I got home and immediately started volunteering for Free Bikes for Kids Detroit. I had to get my bearings (baha) in check for some of the more department-store bike things we see at the shop and, oh, it is so much more difficult than that fancy high-end stuff! My knowledge between three weeks ago and now is exponential overall. I can actually tune in derailleurs with ease and true a wheel with my mere eyeballs. Might I mention toeing brake pads on linear brake sets? Bending steel frames? Milling forks? Re-threading crank arms and bottom bracket shells? Still, so much to learn, always. Time is on my side!
I got in “trouble” my first week being back home for blasting punk rock & psychedelic messes and playing guitar with the amp cranked up way too loud, way too late. Really, that was the only thing I missed besides Detroit, my Cannondale, friends, and family. 10/10, would do again.
*The DX Manual is formally known as the Barnett’s Manual DX, and is long hailed as the world's most comprehensive guide to bicycle repair and maintenance. Barnett's Manual DX features 14,000+ pages of detailed technical information and thousands of illustrative photos. This thorough guidebook is the basis of U of Q Institute coursework, whose students use it as a learning resource and lab guide.