What's your "stress" part of a tri?

[Running Mommy]

teigyr-
I know about the bike having stress because of a poor lbs thing...
My fave lbs has become my not so fave lbs ever since IMAZ...
The bad part is I REALLY like the owners, however, their repairs stink...
They really try, but I just don't think they know what they are doing.
I finally came to the realization that just because you LOVE all things bike, doesn't mean you know how to fix them.

A little known fact is that my hubby and I are in the process of opening up our own shop. And the one thing that we decided first thing was that we were going to school. We want to be certified in both repairs and fitting. We also plan to find a good wrench that really knows what he/she is doing. But having the knowledge beyond just a "working" knowledge is very important to us. We have a lot of serious cyclists in the area, and I want them to be able to trust us.
I wish I could clone Deb W our resident guru of all things bike repair related!

[teigyr]

RM, that'd be great to open a shop With all your experience, too, you know what people need and what their expectations should be.

It's difficult to say with my lbs but I had the rear cassette and derailleur changed in the spring. Ever since then, the poor bike has had drama. I take it in, it's fine for a bit, then it goes back to dropping its chain or not shifting. The guy at the tri yesterday said it really needed a tune-up. Here's the thing, it's been less than 1K miles since the last one. I was having to take it in every two months or so and I don't ride *that* much. It's difficult for mechanics to know sometimes because a bike that shifts fine on the stand (or even for a cursory ride) handle differently in real world riding. I give them the benefit of the doubt but perhaps the bike would be better off going elsewhere. I've learned not everyone does Campy well either so that might be part of it.

I've always been lucky with my bikes and I don't know if it's just this bike in particular and the work I had done to it or if it's the shop. I guess I can start the process of elimination though.

And for all of those who think the swimming is tough...yeah it is. I see the most improvement there but it is just so slow. If I try to speed up, that is trouble because then I get out of breath. I guess I just need to learn patience, swimming (unless you are Very Good) takes forever even just to go 1/2 mile. At least it seems that way. I think I'm making progress in a swim, I sight the buoy, and realize it looks just as far away as it did before