Glad your story had such a happy ending, although it seems to have been a big disruption.
Sometimes I get on my 2006 Rambouillet, after I haven't ridden it for awhile, and it feels like a new bike day; and after all the work you did I definitely recommend luxuriating in a new bike experience. BTW, it looks like your ridding buddy is getting too big for his ride, but probably not quite big enough for a tag along. Michael On Monday, July 21, 2014 4:24:43 PM UTC-4, John Stowe wrote: > > Back in May I was on a group ride with my toddler in the front seat of > "our" Sam Hillborne when I got my first flat ever for that bike. Probably > approaching 2000 miles on it, so not too bad, I thought. Walk to a bench, > snack and sippy cup for the kid, get out the patch kit. As I pulled the > frame pump out from between the double top tubes, though, I noticed a > suspiciously rust-looking discoloration along the lug attaching the lower > top tube to the seat tube. I'm perfectly comfortable doing my own > maintenance, but frame issues are definitely "above my pay grade" - > assuming that 1 1/2 top tubes would still be pretty good, I rode straight > home and then the next day I took it by my LBS for diagnosis. > > I was hoping maybe there was just a gap in the paint that allowed water > and then rust in, but the shop owner knew better what to look for and > showed me that there actually was a crack, about halfway around the joint > between the lug and the seat tube. Hard to say how long it was there, or > took to develop - It was on the side I lean against the wall when I park > it, and opposite the side I usually mount from, so it's not an area I > looked at much. So it turns out the flat was a good thing. Once we got it > cleaned up, I was able to get an OK picture or two (the little "tab" on the > right is bent out a bit because we were picking at it trying to decide if > it was a paint chip or metal). > > > <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-jyhjNqQpbFk/U81oZFxg80I/AAAAAAAABcg/M7i258IK7YY/s1600/DSC_0306.jpg> > I got the frame secondhand, so Rivendell had no particular obligation to > me (I was concerned about spending that much on a frame at the time, so > saving a couple hundred bucks helped make my decision to get a Riv), but I > figured I'd give them a call for advice on how to go about getting my frame > repaired. Keven told me that while it could be repaired, they were curious > to know how/why it failed, and would like for it to go back to the factory > for inspection. I'm on the large side at 220ish lb., and I do carry the > baby and/or groceries on occasion, but most of my riding is relatively > low-stress city riding and commuting, so overall I probably cause much less > stress than the other bikes on this list that get to go on off-road > adventures/Jamborees/Entmoots/S24Os on a regular basis happily endure. > Plus, it had fairly low mileage compared to a typical steel frame's > lifetime (it was secondhand, but unbuilt/ridden before me). > > Keven worked with me on a much-more-than-fair deal to swap the frame for a > new one, which with the recent sizing change durned out to be a better fit > for me - I was between the 56cm and 60cm in the old lineup, so the new 58cm > is right on the money. The new frame was on its way to me within a week, > and the next weekend I swapped out the parts and sent the cracked frame > back in the same box. Aside from the bare cable runs being ever-so-slightly > longer, it was a pretty smooth process. The teardown was a lot quicker than > the buildup, as expected. I figured I'd put my GoPro (sadly, having such > things appears to be necessary with so many grumpy drivers around) on the > ceiling fan and see what the top of my head looks like when I'm working on > my bikes: > > http://youtu.be/EgTIcVUVnkA > > It's been a while now, but I still want to publicly thank Keven/Riv for > going much farther than necessary to make sure I was back on a complete, > non-broken Rivendell when there was really no obligation to help me at all. > > My question for the group is: did I get a second "new bike day," or just a > "fixed bike day"? There wasn't a dramatic change in feel between the old > and new bikes, though I'd say my position did feel slightly more sensible - > which I guess is a sign of a closer fit between the frame and rider size. > Regardless, my co-pilot and I have been enjoying the new 58cm frame this > summer (This picture also should answer the question: what good are those > giant Bosco Bullmoose bars, really? Getting around babies with giant heads, > of course!): > > > <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-SzummpC179E/U81uEahzALI/AAAAAAAABcw/PYE4LnUrm0w/s1600/IMG_2496.jpg> > Two thoughts on shifting since moving to the new frame: > > 1. I had a bear of a time getting the front derailleur to shift properly > when I swapped frames, especially into the smallest chainring (of a Sugino > triple). I was using what I think is the same low-profile Shimano MTB > derailleur that Riv sells, but I just couldn't get it to move in far > enough, and anyway, when I mounted it as low/close as Shimano recommends, > shifting to the big/big combination (48/32) would make the chain rub on the > lever arm where the cable attaches - this must not be an issue on bikes > with steeper seat tubes, because otherwise it seems like a silly fault to > make it through the design process. I couldn't say for certain since I had > already removed everything from the other frame and hardly ever need the > small chainring anyway, but I vaguely recalled having the same trouble on > the previous frame as well. I decided that trying out a road derailleur was > worth the $30 it would cost me, and when I installed it all the trouble > magically disappeared. The limit screws were even set perfectly right from > the factory. So for posterity, and anyone else in a similar situation, the > 5mm chainline difference between the road and mountain derailleurs (which I > wasn't really aware of before) and the different design with the lever arm > out of the way turned out to be just right. > > 2. When I built up my (original) Sam, I was coming from STI shifting on a > road bike (still a nice ride occasionally, but not kid-compatible for > sure), so I set the (Shimano) bar end shifters to indexed mode. The cable > tension wasn't quite right a few days ago and the chain was clicking > against adjacent cogs, so I turned the dial to switch to friction mode. The > friction shifting has been "good enough" that I haven't bothered to go back > and fiddle with the cable since. Makes me more inclined to trust Grant's > "good enough" recommendations on other things in the future. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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