Good for Me!

[bikerHen]

I've been having some nagging troubles with the drivetrain on my LHT. Cleaned the bike over the weekend and decided to take it by the LBS Monday morning while it was clean and shiny. Dropped it off, explained the problems, and left to run some errands. The shop owner calls, said he looked it over, found a few problems and had a repair estimate for me.

So I finish my errands and go back to the LBS. The shop owner says, "I don't get to say this very often, but you have worn out the entire drivetrain of your bike." "Guess you've been putting in a few miles on this bike!" Made me feel kind of special! It's going to cost me, but I'm using this as an opportunity to do some upgrading and tweeking. Besides being my trusty winter commuter, I'm doing more and longer tours with this bike so it's worth pimping it out a little bit more.

So good for me for riding some serious miles on this bike. bikerHen

[Tri Girl]

Wearing out a drivetrain is VERY impressive!!! Good for you!!

What components are you upgrading to?

[KnottedYet]

Yay, Bikerhen! Yay, Surly Long Haul Trucker!

I was there when it all began, the day you bought her... <sniffs, wipes away maudlin tear>

Congratulations!

(check out the logo of the shop where Bikerhen bought her LHT: www.freerangecycles.com Perfect, eh?)

[Melalvai]

That's fun! This is a bad time of year to replace it though. Can you just ride it through the winter? I wanted to get one last new chain this winter before replacing chain again, plus cassette, after winter. My bike mechanic refused to put the new chain on--he said it'd be crap by tomorrow, and I might as well wear it & and the old cassette out together in this nasty stuff! I wondered if I'd be able to shift by spring, but so far I haven't had any skips or not-shifting problems.

[Trekhawk]

Well done BH!
I want to see some more pics of your tours.

[bikerHen]

Thanks everyone.

Although I have to tell you Knott, there's not much left of that orginial bike. Two years ago the frame went back to Surly with a defective paint job. When I got my new frame, I switched to a whole new braking system, got a new seatpost, new fenders and new wheels. After I switch out the drivetrain, I think about all I'll have left of the orginial bike is the Brooks saddle I bought with the bike, the handlebars and the bar end shifters that I just love. Plus, for me for Christmas, I bought a Tubus rear rack and a pair of Ortlieb panniers.

I'm going with a Salsa rear cassette and front rings. My LBS guy likes them and I have options with the sizes. I'm going from 26 to 24 teeth on the small ring in front, was going to do some adding and subtracting of teeth in the back but decided to leave it the same.

I hope I can wait until spring to change things out but my DH is having to dink with it every other night to keep it going. I will have the new Chris King () headset put in as soon as it comes. The old one is pitted and grooved and again DH has taken it apart and turned it a few time to keep it from catching in the same grooves. Don't want to take a chance with the steering!

Maybe with the non-winter we seem to be having, the road crews will finally quit putting the de-icer down on the roads. It's already eaten through a set of fairly new brake pads and I'm sure it has contributed to my drivetrains demise. I quess I shouldn't complain. I've been able to commute just about every day since Jan. 1. bikerHen

[KnottedYet]

Oh, well... I was still there.

I've got Salsa for my 3rd front ring on my Surly, very happy with it. Switched out my front der for a Campy; and of course the fan-ta-bu-lous bar end shifters handled the change from Shimano to Campy with nary a twitch.

My next bike (? is four enough?) will have bar ends. I love them. Went right from down tube shifters to brifters, so never experienced bar ends back in the 80's. Love and passion, I'm tellin' ya.

[bikerHen]

[QUOTE=KnottedYet;490443]Oh, well... I was still there.

I've got Salsa for my 3rd front ring on my Surly, very happy with it. Switched out my front der for a Campy; and of course the fan-ta-bu-lous bar end shifters handled the change from Shimano to Campy with nary a twitch.[QUOTE]

Thanks for that little tidbit of information. I'm keeping that little gem tucked away in the back of my head. Although I did add a new rear derailleur with the frame change and the only thing that's still good on the bike is the front derailleur. But you never know what might happen! bikerHen

[Melalvai]

T]Although I have to tell you Knott, there's not much left of that orginial bike. Two years ago the frame went back to Surly with a defective paint job.

Wow, that really does stretch the concept of continuity of existence. I thought my old bike was a different bike after I'd replaced everything EXCEPT the frame & fork!