0 comment Friday, June 6, 2014 | admin
I inherited my fancy road bike from my dear friend Cliff Kipp over a year ago. I had just had knee surgery and been told I would never run again (at the time, I was putting in about 40 miles per week). This bike was my consolation prize. To make it fair, I actually traded him a pair of Carhartts that didn't quite fit me.
I got it "tuned up" by a dude in town for twenty bucks and he was very honest with me - it would eventually need "work." Within weeks, it stopped shifting. I was unwilling to put money into an object to which I had a very ambivalent relationship with. (Sure, I liked biking but I really loved running and I wasn't quite ready to admit defeat by becoming a "biker.)
My neglectful treatment of this wonderful vessel of goodness went on for just under a year. I called it my single speed (actually - the left shifter worked so it was really a Two-Speed!) and grunted up hills and complained as needed.
Finally, last week, I dropped my bike (which has become my main mode of transport and now holds a very special place in my heart) off at Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop.
It shifts now. It feels good to shift again. So good, that in a two mile ride to school yesterday, I shifted sixty-eight times. I have eighteen gears and they all work and I love them all. I even got some fancy-pants bar tape - as a little treat for my bike. He likes his new yellow color!
I got it "tuned up" by a dude in town for twenty bucks and he was very honest with me - it would eventually need "work." Within weeks, it stopped shifting. I was unwilling to put money into an object to which I had a very ambivalent relationship with. (Sure, I liked biking but I really loved running and I wasn't quite ready to admit defeat by becoming a "biker.)
My neglectful treatment of this wonderful vessel of goodness went on for just under a year. I called it my single speed (actually - the left shifter worked so it was really a Two-Speed!) and grunted up hills and complained as needed.
Finally, last week, I dropped my bike (which has become my main mode of transport and now holds a very special place in my heart) off at Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop.
It shifts now. It feels good to shift again. So good, that in a two mile ride to school yesterday, I shifted sixty-eight times. I have eighteen gears and they all work and I love them all. I even got some fancy-pants bar tape - as a little treat for my bike. He likes his new yellow color!
Labels: Shift