Friday, May 25

Update

I pulled the back end of the Fuel apart at lunch and dug the other broken swingarm out of the basement. 2 identical cracks in 2 identical swingarms, ouch. Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm otherwise I'll be moving in another direction in some form or another.

I've talked to a lot of people today, from my friends to my teammates to the guys down at Bicycle Village and to the Trek rep. To my friends a huge thanks, especially to those of you offering to give up your swingarm even if it meant you taking a different and less fun bike on an upcoming trip. That means a lot and I really appreciate it Scott. To my teammate Doug who is going to let me use the swingarm off his Fuel which luckily isn't currently in use, thanks a million. I'll pick it up on Sunday when you get back and I should be back in business by Sunday night. To the guys at BV and the Trek rep, thanks for taking the time to talk with me and looking into the situation so fast. I'm bummed that I can't have a warrenty swingarm in time but if there isn't one available to ship then there's not much we can do about that. The discussion we had on the topic was prompt and professional and I think in the end we'll have an outcome we're all happy with.

As for the rest of the day I got a little bit of riding in on the road bike and spent the afternoon cleaning Monocog from his post TransIowa neglected state. It's been weird not riding single at all so now I'm back in business again. Oh yea I got out of work at 2pm which is why I could get a few things done. The Monocog is converted back to the 2x2 with a 36x20 and a 40x16 and with no SS races in sight for a while I think that's how it will stay for now. The 2x2 is so practical without the SS's main drawback of being spun out on the road getting to the trailhead. I don't like driving when I can avoid it. 40x16 works great on the road and 36x20 is my prefered all around gear. One of my Racing Ralphs went on the back in place of the Kenda Klimax Lites. It's getting worn but I hate to throw away a tire until it's dead so it will live it's last days on Cogsworth. The 517 rim is also on it's last legs. The rim is starting to crack around several eyelets so it looks like Larry at Mountain High will be building me up some new wheels soon. That guy is the man and well worth calling for a wheel build or just parts. Big thanks to him too for getting a couple Schwalbe tires out to me ASAP.

As for tonight, Marni and I are headed out to celebrate her finishing up another great year of teaching and then it's probably more couch and movie time. We are both looking really forward to the long weekend. That's all for now. I got a picture to add but I'll have to download it from the camera later. Now I'm hungry :)

4 comments:

joel.white said...

You went the right direction with your wheels, Larry builds the best wheels I've ever ridden. Lots and lots of rough, rocky miles on mine and I've never trued them once.

Glad you got the swingarm situation resolved for now, seems crazy that someone your size would crack two just like that. I guess you're just putting out too many watts.

Marni said...

Poor Fuel with a broken butt. Haha, butt crack :)

Gotta lose some weight fatso.

FixieDave said...

I donno if i'd be sticking with a bike after two swingarms... also not wanting to trust it for 340 miles...

Glad you got the redline back together =)

Anonymous said...

True, not my favorite situation but I trust the Fuel except for the swingarm and the position is dialed in. I don't really want to switch to anything else at this point. Hopefully the carbon swingarm will get me through the GLR and after that I will be looking to move in another diretion. Whether it's with some help from the Trek rep or to another bike, I certainly can't keep breaking the bike every 2 races, long or not.