Day 1-Park Tool Tech Summit

Well it's that time of year that I make my annual refresher wrenching pilgrimage to the Park Tool Tech Summit for Professional Bike Mechanics. First off, when I awoke early Sunday morning to go to the airport to catch a flight to Long Beach, CA I was in a fog. But as I soon found out, the fog was literally in Long Beach closing down the airport because the legal FAA minimums for Instrument Flight Rules for ILS approaches were zero-zero. We had already pulled away from the gate on time, but the pilot's flight plan wasn't to fly but to park in a remote part of McCarran on the tarmac out of the way of ramp traffic for the next 2.5 hours. At least we had a view of the casinos along the strip.

I finally got to Long Beach, caught a cab to the hotel, checked in, and headed out to take in some of the local waterfront sights and have lunch. It would be the only free time I'd have while in town. Saw the Queen Mary that is docked on the LA River across from Rainbow Harbor, and toured the Aquarium of The Pacific. It was a great way to spend a few hours. Just sorry I hadn't driven out here from Vegas and brought my single speed to ride along the waterfront.

Queen Mary

Rainbow Harbor

 Well, this morning rolled around early. The Tech Summit had a breakfast for us at 7:30am and classes started at 8:30am. My first session was with SRAM techs to learn how to overhaul and conduct bleed service on the new Elixir CR and Code 5 disc brake systems.

Then we learned to trouble shoot the brake levers and procedures for changing out the brake levers ir replacement were necessary. Finally have a fix for brake rotor noise that some of our Montana customers were having with the new 2010 Elixir C and CR products. Will pass that info along.

In the Fox session we did a complete overhaul on the 2011 Talus 4 fork. We disassembled and rebuilt both the compression cartridge and rebound assemblies.

In the class conducted by FSA, we were shown how to trouble shoot and correct bottom bracket alignment issues, how to remove, overhaul, and reinstall serviceable cartridge BB bearings. FSA showed us the newly developed Vision TT aero bars and Metron end bar shifters. These shifters are SH7900 compatible and are a dream to install, adjust, and use. If I were a TT racer, I'd run with these bad boys. Shifter only requires the movement of one finger and no wrist movement at all.

I wind up the Tech Summit tomorrow with Rock Shox 2011 front suspension overhaul; Shimano multi-service tips for brakes, shifters, drive trains, derailleurs, and XTR brake bleeding; and an in depth overview of the new BB30 standards.

Now, it's time to study my class materials for tomorrow.  Going back home with more tools in the tool box for our Outdoorsman customers.