the fix to beckie’s derailleur was temporary, and resulted in a snapped chain. No surprise, actually. So we had to decide what to do. Bill at Adventure basically said “if you are keeping the bike, replace the whole drive train.” Its 6 years old so no crying, and the cost from the shop would be about $400, not including the shock.

i wasn’t worried about the money, but i felt like this was a job I could almost do by myself. all the work i’d done over the last few months on the Heckler and the Blur made this something that was within my abilities as a mechanic — it’d be a stretch, but i wanted to learn. but i wanted it done right!!

Enter Rick!

My buddy Rick is a mechanic currently between jobs, and doing wrench work on the side. so i proposed that he serve as a consultant for me on this project, charging me for time and advice, and then help me hands-on with the assembly to ensure it will be done right. Took a few emails but the parts list came together. Hopefully next week when Brown Santa arrives we can do the build!!

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The bills came out to abou $450 with shipping, plus ~$50 for Rick’s fee.   i of course added a few parts i needed to the orders. I spent about $20 extra on a new-style shadow derailleur which promises to not dangle out in space so much and get bashed. otherwise its a very solid and affordable LX\XT kit. Didn’t make sense to spend $80 for the XT cranks just ot drop 3oz, this is going to feel so much better for Beckie anyway and be a lot lighter.   I feel a little bad i stood up Adventure, but its not about the money so i’m not stressing it — i actually think the guys there would understand why i wanted to do this on my own.