Well I didn’t exactly get a new bike. Last week I broke my bike. Heading down American Fork Canyon, after dropping 2,500 feet, we arrived at Mt. Timpanogas Cave National Monument, where we stopped at the snack bar. As soon as I got off the bike, I could tell the rear wheel was not rotating completely free. It was rubbing against the right chainstay. I noticed that the connection between the metal dropout and the carbon fiber chain stay had started to separate, which was forcing the wheel off center. Yikes, what to do?

After making some adjustment, tightening the wheel and opening the rear brake, I was finally able to rotate freely. We then headed down carefully, stopping a few times to make sure the separation was not increasing because if it came apart it would be disastrous. We decided to ride directly to the Trek Bike Store in American Fork. There they confirmed that the frame was broken and advised against riding it even one mile.  They confirmed that the frame was under warranty and that Trek would either replace it or repair it at the factory.   I told them I needed to get my bike fixed as soon as possible because I have the 1000 Warriors race coming up and if they replaced the frame I didn’t care what the color it was.   That turned out to be the right thing to say. A real nice guy at the Trek store said he would do what he could.

I was hoping to get a new frame rather than have the factory try to repair my old one. Well I was lucky because not only did they end up giving me a new frame and fork, they gave me the top of the line Madone 6.9 Red. The local Trek store received the frame only 8 days after I first went to them and today they finished moving my components over.  When I picked up the bike the nice guy there said he never saw Trek do such an upgrade on a frame under warranty.  The new frame has a built in seat post so they could not move mine over and no braze on front derailleur so they had to add some components.  It only cost me $200 for everything.

When I got home with the rig, I did a short ride.  It was not shifting quite as smooth as I was use to so I had to make several adjustments.  I also adjusted the headset angle slightly.  It seems to be working great now.  I can’t wait to get the bike out on a real ride.  It is sure lighter than my old frame.  I just need to make sure I get use to this new bike and that it is working smoothly before I race a week from Saturday.

Categories: Cycling Equipment
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