Last month I was fortunate enough to travel to Portland, Oregon to attended the United Bicycle Institute. After completing a two week course in Profession Repair and Shop Operations, I then attended the UBI and DT Swiss Advanced Certification Seminar on wheel building. It was a fantastic experience to spend several days just talking about wheels and learning more about both the production and design aspects of wheel building. Even though I’d built many wheels and read widely on the matter, there is nothing that quite compares to learning in a hands-on and face-to-face environment with people who had decades of wheel building experience. It was a great opportunity to ask lots of questions. I certainly picked up a few tricks and gained a much deeper understanding of the production of wheel components and wheel design. At the end of the course there was a wheel building test and a written exam. I’m pleased to say that I passed the test and am now a Certified Wheel Builder.
