Cannondale VIPs

Pretty!

If you've been following our Facebook page, you know that Shockspital recently sent a couple of representatives out to Cannondale's assembly/tech facility in Bedford, PA to further refine our technique when it comes to Lefty service. Our hosts were two of the planet's foremost experts on Leftys: Headshok Product Manager Drew Hanna and Lefty Production Engineer Derrick Miller. With so much Lefty wisdom in the room we couldn't help but learn something.

Thumbs up for Lefty!

As part of our visit we got to see Cannondale bikes and Leftys being put together from the ground up. Except for my basement, I've never seen so many good-looking bikes in one room! The assembly floor was awash with new frames, forks and parts, and every corner of the building was a flurry of activity.

"Can I fit this under my jacket?"

In the Lefty assembly room, we saw telescopes going together faster than most people can open a bag of potato chips, and that includes the time it takes to size the bearing races for proper bearing preload! We later got to go through the process in detail back in the lab with Derrick and Drew, so you can now consider us experts. (The first thing I did when we got home was test my telescope technique on a fork which was heading straight out to Chequamegon--I've already heard back from the rider and the verdict is 100% success!)

Telescope rebuild

In addition to sharing race-clip/clip-clip stories and comparing favorite bearing greases, we got the scoop on some damper tuning possibilities that I don't want to let out of the bag yet--we need to try them out in the Shockspital lab first. But stay tuned (sorry for the pun) if you have a current-generation PBR or XLR damper in your Lefty, as your options are about to broaden.

If you don't already have PBR/XLR, keep in mind that most Leftys since 2005 can be upgraded to these new dampers. And if you have an SPV Max, you can also drop some serious weight, as the new dampers use an air spring instead of the heavy coil that comes stock in those Leftys.

Checking race thickness

This was a great field trip for us, with equal parts new knowledge gained and, on the other hand, validation of our time-tested Lefty techniques. It didn't hurt that we had a 1-to-1 student/instructor ratio. And at this point it also doesn't hurt that we're the only Cannondale dealer in the Twin Cities. We sell Cannondale, we fix Cannondale. And we have Cannondale's full support.

If a grenade went off...

Shockspital/Freewheel helped make history this week, taking part in the first-ever gathering of suspension gurus from across the country.

Get a bigger truck!

SRAM Technical University (STU) pulled together a veritable who's-who of suspension service shops at their facility in Colorado Springs for a two-day master class in being awesome. Pick any legend in the MTB suspension service/tuning industry who isn't currently working for one of RockShox's competitors, they were probably there.

And this wasn't your average Chuck & Dave's Comedy Hour kind of STU (okay, yes it was, but...). Instead of the usual pair of instructors--who do fine job on their own--SRAM threw everything they had at us. In the room at any given time were product managers, lead technicians, race mechanics, engineers, marketing staff, the folks behind the technical documentation, you name it. At several points there were as many SRAM/RockShox employees in the room as there were "students." Clearly there was something special going on here.

The group gathers for knowledge absorption

And in many ways what RockShox was doing is unprecedented. Not only had the attendees never all been in the same room together, we had never been treated to such unguarded candor from a major manufacturer before. Typical tech trainings are informative but very by-the-book; we learn the official way of doing things and don't get to see behind the curtain, to hear about the product eccentricities that often we have already discovered for ourselves, but have had to develop our own techniques for dealing with. But at this event we were treated like trusted insiders. RockShox was more interested in knowing how they could make our lives easier as suspension techs rather than getting us to toe the line and promise never to take apart their dampers.

Come in close, kids! Don't want to miss anything...

Our time, as usual, was split between the classroom and the lab. But again where this STU session differed from the norm is that the classroom time was a big group discussion, with equal amounts of information coming from all corners of the room. And in the lab, taking apart Boxxers, Monarchs, Vivids and Reverbs under the tutelage of an impressive team of experts, we got into such detail that the STU instructors were asking questions along with us. We now know things about RockShox rear shocks that are so privileged that I'm not allowed to blog about them! But rest assured that it's information that helps us do our jobs better.

Our friend Luby expertly attends to a Monarch

The best part is that this wasn't a one-time deal. The idea is for this first meeting to develop into a long-term relationship between us and SRAM. This has the potential to benefit everyone involved, not least of whom is you, the customer!

And though the folks from SRAM treated us very, very well, and are clearly very serious about this venture, don't forget that the first company to bring us into their trusted circle was Manitou!

Trek Suspension Training Day

Ken from Trek Bikes came to our shop today to show us a few cool things about Trek full suspension bikes.




This was a unique training session at Freewheel because it was open to employees of all Trek dealers. We had mechanics from multiple shops from around the area including Redwing and Hudson.



We got to take a look inside the new Fox DRCV rear shock.




Ken explained how the plunger works.



In this cut away you can see the two separate air chambers and the plunger. This animation shows exactly what is going on as the shock moves through it's travel.



Things came to a stand still when Mario brought coffee and pastries from the Midtown Bike Center Cafe.



Then it was back to work. Ken did a great job explaining why Trek's ABP design works so well.



Then we tried a little demonstration so that we could fell what he was talking about. If you put the front wheel of a non-ABP full suspension bike against a wall and compress the rear shock it compresses normally. Then if you grab the rear brake and try to compress the rear shock you can feel that it becomes much firmer. This firming up of the rear shock did not happen on the bike with ABP.



The first three people with the correct answer to the following trivia questions will win one of these hats. Send your answers to peteh@freewheelbike.com.

What does DRCV stand for and what is it's performance advantage (how does it make the bike ride better)?
What does ABP stand for and what are it's performance advantages?

Update: 2/10/10 5:55pm Still have one hat left for the next person with the correct answers.
2/12/10 We finally have a third and final winner. Thanks to everyone for playing.

Please try not to get oil on the carpet

Freewheel sent three representatives to the Park Tool Tech Summit in Chicago last weekend to take part in what proved to be a great learning experience. Eight major brands came together to offer technical seminars on their latest products to a motley group of mechanics, service managers and bike shop owners.

We attended six seminars in two days and got our hands dirty in everyone of them. We dug into hydraulic brake systems from Avid, Hayes and Shimano; we pulled apart suspension components from Fox, Manitou and Rock Shox; we put wrenches on Campagnolo wheels, shifters and drive trains; we even got to absorb pearls of wisdom from the legendary John Barnett.

Along the way we had a chance to catch up with some folks you may recognize from the blog archives. Here we are with Nick from Fox Racing Shox, who stopped by Freewheel back in August:

...and here are with Andy from Hayes/Manitou, who we visited in Milwaukee last July:

The other great part of events like this is meeting and talking with other bike mechanics from all over the country to compare notes, trade stories and share a couple beers. And inevitably we bump into people from other bike shops here in the Twin Cities--imagine the Sharks/Jets interactions in West Side Story but without the knives and a lot less dancing, and in the end we manage to become friends.

In these two days we learned a ton, got to work on a bunch of cool new components and had a blast. And the best part is that the primary beneficiary of all this is you, the customer. Stop by and give us a chance to put our knowledge and skills to work.

Trivia!! Now's your chance to attend an intensive training session--the first person to answer all four questions below will win a full-ride scholarship to Freewheel's Bicycle Maintenance Class ($100 value)!

1) What is the name of Rock Shox's new hydraulic remote lockout lever?

2) New 32mm Fox suspension forks use their FIT damper--what does the acronym "FIT" stand for?

3) What cycling industry giant invented the quick release skewer?

4) DOT hydraulic brake fluids are rated in part by their wet and dry boiling points--what do the terms "wet" and "dry" refer to in this case?

Edit: 9:51pm 1/23/10 The first person with the correct answer wins.

1/24/10 4:13pm We have a winner. Thanks for playing.

Fox factory suspension training

Early one Tuesday morning Nick, the Fox tech rep, came to Freewheel to give us some factory training.


The Freewheel mechanics gathered around Nick as they took in their coffee and donuts. From left to right, Chris, Nick, Tyson, Bryan, McChain, Dave, and Patrick. I'm not sure if Patrick blinked when I snapped this photo or if he was still sleeping:


Here, Nick shows us how to use the centering tool to reassemble the TALAS adjuster:


Everyone is listening for the faint noise that indicates that the TALAS adjuster knob is clocked properly:


After the training is over we all got free stuff!


And now you can get some free Fox stuff too! The first person to e-mail me at peteh@freewheelbike.com with the correct answer to the following question will win this very cool retro Fox hat (free shipping in MN only). What does the Fox acronym "TALAS" stand for?


We have a winner! Here's Matt lookin' sharp in his new Fox hat.

Employee Training Night - Suspension

The Freewheel Service Department team assembled for a late night of suspension training.


Tyson (in yellow) shows Phil how to disassemble a fox fork.


Here Graham inspects a Motion Control rebound damper shaft for scratches because this fork would not lock out.


Andy is using a torque wrench to tighten the top cap on this fork.


Karl is pretty excited about the new rear shock dyno.

Getting smarter

Pete, Dave and Tyson headed out earlier this week to visit the Hayes/Manitou crew in Milwaukee. The idea was to get some hands-on training from the guys who know more than just about anybody about Manitou suspension components and Hayes hydraulic brakes.

We spent a long day tearing into forks, shocks and brakes with one-on-one guidance from the mechanics who do this all day, every day. Hints and tips that otherwise would take years to discover were passed to us in 9 hours of intense tutorials. Raise your hand if you know how to use a nickel to set the fluid level in a Swinger shock. How about disassembling an IT spring without sending parts flying across the shop? These and other secrets made our trip more than worth it.

Here is Shannon (from Hayes/Manitou) leading Dave through a fork tear-down.


Here Colin (from Hayes/Manitou) guides Pete through the post-overhaul tests on a shock (it's nice to know that you put everything back together in the right order). We came home with one of those shock dynos, by the way. Just have to find some space on one of the benches to mount it...


Here Tyson uses a syringe that costs more than his bike to set the fluid level in an MRD fork.


Here Andy (from Hayes/Manitou) leads Dave and Tyson through caliper and master cylinder overhauls of the new Stroker series of brakes.


Here are the guts of the Hayes Stroker Ace four-piston brake caliper. That purple anodized bit is part of the special toolkit for that brake. (We managed to come home with those kits, too.)


Anyone have a truing stand at home? Not like this one, you don't (and I thought our Park TS-2's were heavy-duty!):


It's a little hard to tell what's going on in this next shot, but what you're seeing is a big spool of wire being turned into Wheelsmith spokes (which are also part of the Hayes family).


What else could we possibly cram into a 1.5-day trip to Milwaukee and back? Well, we do work at a bike shop, which pretty much requires us to ride bikes whenever we're not eating or sleeping, so went a little bit out of our way to find a bit of singletrack in the Kettle Moraine state forest outside Milwaukee. We tried to take pictures, but we were riding so fast they came out a little blurry...


What's the take-home message? We're working hard to widen our expertise and we're talking directly to the experts to do so. Next month we'll be hanging out with the folks from Fox Racing Shox. Stay tuned...