I have a Trek 4500 WSD mountain bike. I really love my bike, and it fits me well and it gets the job done.

One thing though...It developed a click in the bottom bracket. Every time my right foot went over the top, a couple of clicks. I took it to the LBS and he took it apart. He said there was 2-3 tablespoons of water in my bottom bracket.

WHa...??

He said, "This bike's been left out in the rain a lot."

Uh. No.

We did get caught in a rainstorm when the bikes were on the rack, though. So kept the bike and he did something to the bottom bracket and I couldn't hear the click anymore and I took the bike to New Mexico.

About halfway down La Bajada Hill (the old one, not the one on the freeway), here comes the click again. :P

Here's the confession:

I think I'm too heavy for my bike. I weigh about 195. I think the increased pressure of my weight hitting rocks hard and bouncing over basalt is straining the bottom bracket and knocking it out of whack.

Now I can't really blame Trek for not making a mountain bike (a WSD bike, mind you) to handle a 195 lb. 44-year-old woman cranking around ancient petroglyphs. Heck, most people don't believe I even CAN do that. But I wish I had taken into consideration my weight versus my bike.

I hope you do, too.

Karen