Friday, May 26, 2006

5 Spoke Discount

In the process of cleaning my bike today, I noted that five spokes had sheered off at the tip, all on one side. I took it in to Penn and they declared that my rim was perhaps seeing the end of its life. I remarked that perhaps they could have told me about that after my expensive check up with hub rebuilding right before the Ironman a month and a half ago. Oops. Half price on the rim, half price on the labor (so basically, cost of part as they were about equal). Most annoying is that I had to hurry home and take a long, long look at my Specialized, which hasn't seen action in almost 3 years, so that I have a bike to ride for tomorrow's TCBC memorial ride. I'm not even sure if I remember how to shift the thing, those frog-style, clipless shoes look daunting, and there's actually a bit of thread showing on the tire (I used it a lot when I first bought it, including some almost 200 mile weekends - but it's been sitting a long time while I ponder a new back rim).

So the plan of action is use the Specialized tomorrow, even with the very slight out-of-true issue that no longer seems fixable (by me or the shop), while the Trek mountain bike is getting a new back rim and spokes over the weekend. When the rim comes back, switch back to the mountain bike and ask the fellers (and one wrench wench) about options for the back rim on the Specialized and an odometer so I know how far I've gone and how fast, because it's really annoying to have no idea how far along you are other than by using your watch. And finally, move the Trek to the cabin this fall and find a hybrid I can use with less wear and tear that's Burley capable.

Who says biking is cheaper than a car!

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