bsyptak

Yup, I'm a dumbass/idiot/moron/asshat. All the precautions I made forgotten on one fateful day last October as I was driving home from the car repair shop after getting reamed for $700 on a timing belt. Drove into the garage with the Waterford Cross on top. Destroyed in less time than it takes to blink. Make that $1600. Not a scratch to the house or garage.

Pre:

Post:


Major bummer for sure. I owned it approximately 18 months before I killed it. The top and downtube snapped immediately, preventing damage to the rest of the bike. The DA brifters took the initial hit, and only the little decorative silver caps on both sides are dented. Unbelievable that they still work and didn't shatter. Major props to Shimano on that one. Anybody that says to run barcons instead of brifters due to potential breakage needs to rethink that one. These things withstood a major direct hit. Called Waterford and it would have been about $1k to fix it. Well, I only paid $900 for the entire bike so hard to justify fixing a 12 year old frame. Plus, this one had a little rust in the tubes when I stripped it down. I wanted a new rustproof frame, thus,
Reborn:

Not quite as blue as she once was, but it'll do. Had to get a new FD, headset, stem and fork. The FD because the new seat tube is larger, the latter 3 because the old bike was 1" and threaded. Old bike was just under 21 lbs as I recall. 19.5 pounds as shown, a pound less with a set of road wheels & tires.

sfcrossrider

Very nice.

TimJ

That story kind of made me want to puke. Basically because I'm sure that I'm going to do that same exact thing some day and the looming doom makes me sick. Ugh.

Cool bike though.

Sawtooth

Oh man, I feel for you. This happens way too often. I am a process designer for a living and I wrack my brain in vain trying to come up with a fool-proof way to prevent the garage problem.

LOVE the new habenero! Let us know how you like it.

justinb

I'm glad your story has a happy ending.

Sawtooth

With enough money shelled out....every story has a happy ending

TehK

Looks like you've got yourself a nice pursuit frame now.

bsyptak

My usual method to not drive into the garage with a bike on top is to remove the opener from the visor and put it on the seat or in a pouch. I forgot this day obviously and that's why I've got to come up with a foolproof method. Maybe a huge sign on the back wall that says "GOT BIKE?" or a sign hanging from the garage door that comes up with the door. Or maybe I could rig a strobe light that turns on when the garage door is activated.

Then again, I'm not sure it will happen again to me. I stop in front of every garage I'm about to enter now for about 5 seconds asking myself if I have a bike on top. I think the next car will have a rear mounted carrier. I might become suicidal if it happened again.

Thanks for the kind words. I always wanted a Waterford. Just thought it would be for a lot longer.

So far so good on the Habanero. One issue I had with the Waterford was the fork. I got major brake shudder with that fork. Comfy, but noodly. The Ritchey Comp eliminates it to the point where I can't feel it, but if I look down I can see a slight movement at the axle when I come to a stop. I think this is normal and can't feel it anyway. Decided not to go with the WCS fork to save a few bucks and to not deal with the carbon steer tube. Don't see much benefit on a cross bike. I prefer strength. The chainstays are huge too and could cause heel strike with big footed people. Also, I've got maybe 2mm of clearance on my inner 39t chainring. Not sure if the two are related. Also not sure if a different crankset would increase the clearance. It's not a big deal because I'm sure 2mm is plenty. It's just less than I've ever seen. Who knows, maybe this frame was intended for a touring triple which would probably increase the clearance.

Sawtooth

Thanks for the review. I have been interested in that frame for some time. How does it ride?

Feathers

garage door opener placed in trunk of automobile or secured in underseat bag on bicycle on roof.

doco

get rid of the garage door opener, and get out and open it

eofelis 

Sorry about your beautiful Waterford, the new bike looks great too.

We lost our automatic garage door opener, and we like it that way.

bsyptak

Quite a nice riding bike, even with 23s. Similar to the Waterford in comfort. The decals aren't great quality nor all that well applied, but most titanium decals self-destruct after a few years anyway. Hab said new ones were available. The rest of the build quality is perfect, welds stellar like most ti frames. If you put it up next to any ti frame I've ever seen, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference IMO.

I inquired about the Bikes Direct ti cross frame, but didn't want to wait a full year from last Nov. Didn't want disc mounts or integrated headset either. Just the basics at a good price. Habanero is the only choice, though a good one.

If you want better pictures, let me know. I didn't want to bore anyone here with the nitty gritty.

justinb

I wouldn't mind being bored with the nitty gritty details of your sweet Ti crosser. Just sayin'

greenwithwheels

reading this post was like a roller coaster of emotion, i think i might have teared up at the beginning but it had a moral, heart warming ending

....wonderful

bsyptak

justinb, here you go...

Zaskar24

bsyptak,
Very sorry to hear about the Waterford. That Habanero is a sweet looking 'cross bike though. What rims/wheelset are you running if I may ask?

Scott

bsyptak

It's an old set of Mavic Open Pros with Ultegra hubs. Probably circa 2001. I still see them around for sale every once in a while. Even saw a NOS set of hoops. Almost bought them as insurance. There are some Mavic Cosmos in blue too. Rolf also made some about the same time. Just about the only rim manufacturer left making colors is Velocity. The Aerohead is is the same weight as the Open Pro. I think the blue might be a little brighter though.