Thanks, yeah, I really feel the sentiment for spending money on good components. I'm going to look for a mid grade replacement chain, SRAM looks nice. I put Bontrager hardcase tires on it. (Even downsizing my tires, I can feel the difference. They should have called them Bontrager: Exercise edition instead ) I'm just hoping I can avoid spending any more money on it, at least for a while, outside of regular maintenance. Sorry for the rant, it's just obnoxious when I planned on spending most of my vacation riding the bike, but it ended up broken/needing parts/unrideable every other day!

I try to be nice to my bike - avoid potholes, curbs, etc. It does have a suspension fork. I'm waiting for that to give out/fail and I'll replace it with a solid one.