Summer of my Mechanical Discontent

This year has sent me to the bike shop more than I could have imagined and well past the point where it was fun. It all started months ago with a crash at Wells Ave that spelled the end of my Fondriest. The emotional scars of this still sting, but such is life.
I rushed out and got a new frame. Not Italian, but not bad either(kids are going to college, I will be on a tight budget for the next few years). Smooth sailing from here? Nope, doored on Memorial Day weekend causing even more drama and exploding bike parts.

Well, got all that fixed. Should be cruising from here since I just dumped all the money I had saved for a cross bike into repairs. Now I can sit back and enjoy this new stiffer fork right? Nope.

Decided to swap out the bars and stem for something newer that was more in keeping with my bikefit. So this is the final "before" picture of Frankenbike. Notice 10 degree rise stem giving it the super-century look. This will be taken care of shortly, but I had to document this less than perfect stage in Frankenbike's development.


Got the new stem and bars on in glacial fashion and am ready to ride out the summer like this.....



But you know it couldn't be that easy. The final mechanical meltdown with Frankenbike will be documented shortly in a chapter called "Frankencrank". Stay tuned.


Last minute addition... Hold the presses. Just to make sure I stay busy, my computer has developed an audible geiger counter like noise and seems to be draining batteries in days. Great.................