General Cycling Discussion - The agony of waiting...

My bike is in the shop getting a tune-up and bottom bracket overhaul. I think absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. All I can think about is going for a ride tomorrow as soon as I get it back from the shop.

On a good note though, the local LBS adjusted my cranks to try to resolve the squeeking bottom bracket for free. I've been looking for a road bike for my wife....looks like we may have to buy there to repay them for all the times they've helped me.

How do others pass the time waiting for their bikes to get back from the shop?

I workout or program.

I have been off the bike for a month and a half now, and the end is nowhere in sight, which is really horrible since I just got a new road bike.

To pass the time I have been reading a lot of cycling magazines and books and also watching some old bike race videos. It keeps my motivation really high and makes me anxious to get back on the bike.

When I have had my bike in the shop before I usually ride my mountain bike or go to the gym and try and ride the stationary bikes. It's just to hard for me to stay off the bike for a couple days like that :D

I've been off the bike for a couple weeks that are beginning to feel like months. Nothing against public transit but riding the bus to work is depressing and mildly humiliating when I see someone who knows that I should be cycling to work. I'm staying home a lot and sleeping much more. I eat less and don't go out nearly as much.

I have an old chromo Raleigh Glacier frame that's back from the sandblaster and ready for some paint and to be slapped together as a winter beater bike. I guess you could say I've been passing the time by putting this thing together. It takes so much longer to build a bike when you have to walk to the bike shop.

My regular Trek Hybrid is a little incapacitated at the moment.

Originally posted by MadCat
My regular Trek Hybrid is a little incapacitated at the moment.

What happened to it?

I don't know if I wanna say...

Ok I'll tell you what happened....

I was cruising down a fairly major street here in the city with a decent tail wind and everything. My rear derailer was pretty dirty and still not lined up properly to the new cassette (a victim of my own procrastination).

Anyway, I was approaching my left turn and crossing the three lanes of traffic to make my turn. Things weren't feeling right with the shifting but I had no choice but to skip through the cars quickly. I got to the left land and my entire rear wheel locked up tight. I hopped up onto the side of the road and looked back at the nightmarish sight. My derailer was grotesquely wrapped upside down and the chain was all over the place. I reached down to loosen the derailed and it just split in two. It was like reaching down to check someone's wrist for a pulse and finding that it's not attacked to a body. Upon closer examination, I saw that the portion of the aluminum frame that the derailed bolts onto was bent upwards as well. Thankfully my brand new cassette was unharmed.

I decided to retire the bike for the winter and fix it all after I build this winter bike. This beater has cost me less so far than the full cost of a new Shimano Deore LX 9 speed derailer anyway.

I was wondering though, Should I heat up the portion of the frame that bent before I bend it back or just push it back slowly with a vice? If bad becomes worse, my roomate knows a good welder but god I hope it doesn't come to that.

Originally posted by steversk
How do others pass the time waiting for their bikes to get back from the shop?
Well... I do most of my work myself... and I have a bunch of other bikes.

Originally posted by steversk
How do others pass the time waiting for their bikes to get back from the shop?

I never take all my bikes to the shop at one time. :D So I just keep riding. (Actually, I only have two singles right now.)

I ride my other bike usually stopping b the LBS to give a friendly whine about the one I don't have.