Last week I heard a grinding/crunching sound at the bottom of each right pedal stroke when I was in my middle gears. Since I'm not mechanically-inclined (and even worse about doing preventive maintenance), I figured it was probably something bad in the bottom bracket. I just didn't realize HOW bad....

I took her in to the LBS Friday night after work. The wrench looks at the bike and says, "How many miles you go on her?" "Uh oh," I think. "Probably about 5000," I say. "She's my everyday commuter and I've put about 2k a year on her for the last 2 years."

He puts her on the rack and "flexes" the pedals. "OK, you've got play in the cranks," he says. "That crunching/grinding sound is probably a seized bearing." Then he shows me a ring at the bb; it's got a noticeable crack in it. And finally, the chain was stretched to 100%. Total for a replaced bb, new chain, and some general cleanup was about $85.

So, how was the ride today? Really, REALLY quiet.

P.S. The funny thing is, my 3-year-old van is due for a tune-up this week (oil change, stuff like that). That regular maintenance on the van is going to cost more than essentially replacing the entire drive train (ok, no new cassette, but still...) on the bike did. It makes me think (again) about going car-free.