What's Wrong With This Picture?

OK, _these_ pictures

Yup, This was todays "lunchtime" ride. This is one of the hazards of riding this time of year: Things are constantly falling out of the trees. Branches up to two inches in diameter can easily be concealed by a deep covering of freshly dropped deciduous leaves. It's on of these that I found today. Some of the trails that I ride in the weir hill/half-mile hill/osgood hill conservation areas in north andover don't get alot of use, and so are sometimes heavily covered. This damage was the result of a one-inch twig that twisted up inside the chain circle, caught one of the spokes, then spun the derailleur up and around the seat stay. The reason I didn't rip off the dropout is that it's Titanium. To quote an advertisement from Merlin several years ago, (talking about their dropouts) "No one hes ever broken one of our dropouts. Not one. Ever." I know, I'm not riding a Merlin, I'm riding an Independent Fabrication, but IF is what Merlin was before they were spirited away by Litespeed, and anyone who has any knowledge of the bicycle industry in Boston will tell you that any IF is as good as - if not better than - any Merlin in the same category.

I'm not too disappointed though. This setup has served me quite well for 6 years now (Sram 9.0 ESP). Trust me, that isn't because I don't' ride this thing like a ten dollar prostitute. My philosophy is, if you didn't crash, you aren't riding hard enough. For example, check out the dent in the chainstay. Remember, this is titanium, not the most delicate material on the planet. Also look here.

I may actually have a spare crappy derailleur I can use that I bought for parts and never used. I seem to remember buying a lightly used one at a bike swap that I snagged the jokey wheels off of. If I'm lucky, it will be the 1:1 actuation ratio typ that I need.

In any case, I already ordered a new ('07, actually) Sram X.9. It will be here monday.

The Hardware – The Bestest Mountain Bike

I worked for Hewlett-Packard a number of years ago, and got laid off when their managerial ineptitude became glaringly obvious in the wake of the tech bust of 2001. Since I was in one of the first rounds in the US, they were still rather generous with their severance package. As I got another job (that really SUCKED) right away, I decided to take half of what was left – about 4 months pay – and buy a bunch of fun things. I bought a new HD compatible 46” TV, a complete Pioneer Elite series home theater system, and an Independent Fabrications Custom Deluxe Ti. It took two months to show up, and I bought the components to build it up myself.

Rock Shox SID
Race face – bars, stem, seatpost, crankset, headset
Sram - shifters, deraillers, brakes, cassette
Mavic Crossmax UST wheels
Ritchey Vector Pro seat
Time ATAC pedals
Continental Twister Pro tires

This bike is the most stable, predictable, and comfortable bike I have ever ridden, ever. It goes exactly where I think it should, holds the trail exceptionally well, climbs well, and handles descents as well as any hard-tail I’ve ever ridden. The bike just about becomes part of me on the trail. I will be buried with this bike.

I placed the order when the disk brake rage was just starting, and as a result, they didn’t offer a the Custom Deluxe with a rear disk boss. I had a severe issue with this as in the fall after I bought the bike (I took delivery in april ’02) I was at pedros fest, and what did I see at the IF tent? A custom deluxe Ti with a rear disk dropout. I asked the guy about it, and he said they released it that summer.

I told him I placed the order for my bike in march and was told they didn’t have a rear disk option.

He said that was true in march.

Me: When did you decide to offer it?

Him: last fall

Me: why didn’t they tell me it was in the works when I ordered the bike?

Him: uh, I wouldn’t be able to know that unless I knew who you talked to.

Me: well that sucks, I would have waited if I knew. Can this one be retrofitted?

Him: no.

Me: why not?

Him: the whole geometry of the bike has changed, this dropout will only fit with these stays, so we would have to replace the entire rear triangle. And since the geometry would be incompatible, would have to replace the front triangle too.

Me: so I be buying a whole new bike

Him: yes

Me: that sucks

I just walked away. I felt sort of like I had been sold a top of the line 8-track tape player right when cassettes were hitting the market.

Still, it doesn’t take away from the bike. The bike, I don’t have a problem with, but I had a few choice words for the company.