BRO Class of December 2007

My instructors and coursemates

From left: John Barnett, the founder of the school,
Jenny, Cat and John.
After almost 13 years as an instructor at BBI, Jenny
will be leaving soon to start her own Pilates practice

Not an expert mechanic yet......this cert just provides
me with the foundation to work with bikes

Hi everyone,
last Friday marked the end of my 2 week Bicycle Repair and Overhaul class. It was a time to say goodbye to some of my coursemates as they were not staying for the 3 day Suspension Service and Tuning (SST) course. I've had the opportunity to work with each and every one of them during the labs and I have to say that they are a great bunch of people. A lot of them are more experienced than me in servicing bikes and I really appreciate the patience they showed me when I was slow or just blurr :) Not sure when I will ever see them again, but all the best to their future endeavours!

So....what am I going to do with this certificate?? Well, this course has provided me with an indepth knowledge of the inner workings of a bicycle. As with every skill that you pick up, there is a need to practice it, otherwise, you might lose it in no time. Well, the first step would be to start working on my own bikes. For those who ride with me, they know that my bikes are in a constant state of filth. I hardly clean or maintain them.I will need to keep my chain clean and make sure that the gears are running properly from now on. I will also buy a mechanic toolkit and start taking apart my bike and overhauling them. I might also volunteer my services at a bike shop on Saturdays (once I clear my driving test) so that I work with different kinds of bikes.

The time spent in the BRO course has been a very fruitful one. When I first started the course, I was a bit "butter-fingers"; my fine motor skills were just not there. My fingers just felt weird trying to grasp the small bike parts. But over the span of the course, holding a wrench or a screw driver has become more comfortable to me. BBI treats bicycle mechanics as both a science as well as an art. Hence, the use of torque wrenches when tightening things and digital callipers to make sure things fit. The procedures that I learnt have been written down in a precise manner by John Barnett, so that anyone can follow it and have the exact result everytime.

Well, I've got 3 days of SST and then I will be flying back on Thursday morning. Really missing you all....can't wait to see you all again.

Take care and thanks for reading:)