Originally Posted by
donalson
what sort of things did they find to make your old bike on it's deathbed
A list of easy fixes, true wheels, replace chain, replace rear brake cable and pads. But the biggie... the bottom bracket was going bad. The bike was over 10 years old. It sat in floodwaters for 2 days after Katrina. The bike shop could not get the BB to budge. It was seized in the frame. They even bought an impact wrench to muscle it out. No luck.
I probably could have ridden it, but the thought of having the BB go out while out on the road is not very appealing to me. I've been itching to upgrade my bike, but was hoping to put it off till later in the year. This was a justifiable excuse to drop the cash now.
Originally Posted by
donalson
nice upgrade 
... as for saddle... if you where happy with the old one on the last bike consider using it.
Thanks.
I couldn't get the old saddle to mount onto the new seat post. I may just swap out seat post and all for this ride. We'll see.
BTW - Re: BP MS150. I signed up with the
Ready2Roll Training Series this year. It's a collection of companies that put it on, and you have to be employed by one of the member companies to join. It is very well organized and definitely worth signing up. This is the best shape I've been in for one of these long distance rides.