0 comment Monday, June 9, 2014 | admin
Riding in on my Trek 520 this morning, I had what racers call a "mechanical", the general term describing anything that breaks on your bike.
I was going over a small uneven spot in the sidewalk, when all the sudden I felt a tremendous amount of resistance on the pedals. Being foolish, rather than stop, I followed through on my pedal stroke, and suddenly, all the resistance was gone. An instant later, I hear the jingle-jangle of something aluminum falling off my bike. I stop and turn around, thinking I threw a pulley wheel off my derailer or something.
Nope, it is a three tooth section of my granny gear chainring, with the chainring bolt still attached.
Initially I didn't think it was too bad. Chainrings can be replaced. But as I rode the remainder of the way into work, I wondered, "what did that chainring hit to make it break off?" Well, it hit the CHAINSTAY, of course! Once I got to work, I flipped the bike over, and sure enough, there's a deep chainring sized dent in the bottom of the stay from where the ring dug in before it broke. AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!
There's still no telling why, at a mile into my morning commute, the granny gear decided to bend in on itself and mangle my frame. I guess I used that gear this weekend, but that's the last time. All I can do is look at my dented frame and cry.
The Horror. The Horror...
I was going over a small uneven spot in the sidewalk, when all the sudden I felt a tremendous amount of resistance on the pedals. Being foolish, rather than stop, I followed through on my pedal stroke, and suddenly, all the resistance was gone. An instant later, I hear the jingle-jangle of something aluminum falling off my bike. I stop and turn around, thinking I threw a pulley wheel off my derailer or something.
Nope, it is a three tooth section of my granny gear chainring, with the chainring bolt still attached.
Initially I didn't think it was too bad. Chainrings can be replaced. But as I rode the remainder of the way into work, I wondered, "what did that chainring hit to make it break off?" Well, it hit the CHAINSTAY, of course! Once I got to work, I flipped the bike over, and sure enough, there's a deep chainring sized dent in the bottom of the stay from where the ring dug in before it broke. AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!
There's still no telling why, at a mile into my morning commute, the granny gear decided to bend in on itself and mangle my frame. I guess I used that gear this weekend, but that's the last time. All I can do is look at my dented frame and cry.
The Horror. The Horror...
Labels: Mechanical