So after talking my bike to the shop for a Spring tune-up…
and getting it back in two pieces. I knew I had to do something about it.
You know I can’t survive without my bike!!! So here’s the full story…
When I took my bike in for a regular tune-up, my normal bike guy said things needed to be tightened, cleaned, lubed, whatever. All the usuals. And something about new ball bearings. Whatever. But when he called me two hours later, I knew there was a problem – they never call before the tune-up is finished.
He said that as they were taking things apart, the actual mechanic found a problem. Apparently where the seat post meets the cylinder that holds the pedals they found a fracture in the joint. An structure fracture in the welded seam. He said I was lucky that they found it before something bad happened. Something like me pedaling too hard or standing up on the pedals and the whole thing breaking out the bottom. Something bad like that.
Unfortunately, there is NOTHING they can do to fix it. That bike was dead!!!.
Which I guess was time as there must have been well over 50,000 miles on it.
A lot of miles. And a lot of memories.
Luckily, he also mentioned that he thought it would still be under the TREK Bikes Lifetime Warranty. Unfortunately, my normal bike shop i snot an authorized TREK Dealer. So they gave me my bike back in two pieces so I could go to another shop. Thank you “On The Route Bicycles” for taking care of me over the years… and for finding the fractured frame before something bad happened!!!
So I did… and the new bike shop was great. Village Cycle Center in Old Town. The listened to my story, looked at the bike and totally agreed that it would be warranty-worthy. I left my bike there as they were filing a claim for me. They called the next day and said YES. Good news. TREK was willing to stand by their warranty and agreed that it was a structural flaw in the manufacturing of the bike frame. So they offered me a new replacement frame, or money towards a new bike. After a VERY short discussion with the bike shop guy, we both agreed that I should go for the new bike… instead of trying to “Frankenstein” it back together with old parts on a new frame.
Let the shopping begin… like a kid in a candy store.
I’ve had my old bike for about ten years… so it’s been awhile and things have changed a bit.
This one. That one. These components. This upgrade.
Shift this, brake that. Red. Black. White. Blue. So many options. So many decisions.
So many bikes, so little time.
After much deliberation, I finally decided upon this little beauty… another TREK of course!!!
A beautiful matte red road bike. A bit more than I expected to pay… but I completely rationalized it by knowing how many miles I will be putting on this summer… and many more to come!!!
So now to give it a name?… any suggestions?
My top two choices right now are “The Crimson Ride” or “Scarlett Don’t-Care-A.”
Thoughts?
After some some final touches by the cycle shop staff… adding pedals, pumping tires, transferring my things over… and I was good to go!!! One big Happy Camper with a new toy… can’t wait to start putting on the miles!!!
