ATTEMPTING to put it all together

   My Cannondale had Shimano 105 components, and I quickly found that it would be impossible to keep a complete set of matching Shimano components since the 105 line did not include a compact crankset. I certainly didn’t feel like dishing out the big bucks for Ultegra (Shimano’s top-of-the-line), so I looked at some of their less expensive product lines. I'm familiar with the Sora and Tourney names for their lower level road bike components, later discovered that Alivia and Altus were their corresponding MTB lines, and avoided all of those. Anyway, I eventually settled on a mid-range Tiagra crankset, a Shimano line of which I’ve had no complaints about on my Trek for the last four years.

   The acquisition of a new rear cassette was no problem, after finding a reasonably priced 9-speed Shimano Deore mountain bike version with a wide range of cog size from 11 to 34 teeth. However, my purchase of the long-cage Deore rear derailleur to go with it was a bit of a bust. The listing on eBay was missing the correct description of the part, which was reverse sprung. Some Shimano derailleurs use what they call a “Rapid Rise” system that reverses the tension on the derailleur cable. In other words, the cage is sprung towards the wheel and the larger cog, as opposed to the traditional direction towards the chainstay and smaller cog. This system supposedly makes shifts under load on bouncy terrain much easier. I found this set up counter-intuitive and somewhat useless for road bicycles, so I am now awaiting a replacement with the correct spring direction.

   I did realize that with my new setup that my required chain length was probably going to increase. After wrapping the old chain around the largest chainring and then back around the largest cog to make sure, I found the purchase of a new chain would indeed be necessary, which leads me to the following - just another example of why Bikesport is the best bike shop around:

  Today I needed help with the rear wheel from one of the “throw-in” bikes from my recent Cannondale transaction. There was a broken spoke on the drive side, which required the removal of the freewheel (the cluster of gears) in order to have room to weave a new spoke back through the hub. Partly because of a short wrench, but also due to a bad shoulder, I was not getting enough torque on the removal tool. I needed to purchase the new spoke (and previously mentioned chain) anyway, so I took the wheel with the hope that Bikesport’s better tools and younger arms would be able to loosen the freewheel.

   As usual the guys went above and beyond - I would assume somewhat because I’m a regular customer on a first name basis with a couple of the employees, but also because that is just the way they operate. Christopher, who knew that I would normally handle the rest of the work at home, proceeded to not only remove the freewheel, he inserted the new spoke and put everything back together. While I was talking to another employee about chains, Christopher held up the wheel and told him that when I was ready for check out, to just charge for the spoke. Now, I understand that he was leaving the truing of the rim to me, but he definitely did more than just hand me a spoke and send me on my way!

   The clincher was when the clerk, after tallying my other purchases at the register, forgot and entered the full price for their regular spoke replacement service. Jeff, my former mechanic class teacher, who was barely within earshot of this whole exchange, and was at the time busy with another customer’s tire repair, piped in with a reminder to just charge for the spoke itself. I laughed and told him that I was in there so often that I wouldn’t have even thought to double check the receipt, but it’s obvious that the high-quality service they provide is what makes me feel so trusting.