Athlete Blogs
April 28th, 2010Man down - well - bike down
Haven't had much inclination to post lately and this piece will have nothing to do with watts or training, just the bike(s).I have always been a big fan and proponent of high availability. In my line of work it is critical for my customers and for something as important to most of us as riding our bikes - same logic applies.
So for the last 3 years, I have always had at least 2 road bikes, 2 SRMS and numerous wheels, shoes, etc. So baring a catastrophic destruction of the garage, no single failure would be a show stopper.
I recently sold my look 595 which left me with just one bike. I jokingly predicted that everything would then break, leaving me w/out a working bike.
Well, it only took about 3 days for something to go wrong - my wireless SRM battery started to die. It only has 300 to 400 hrs of use, so the transmit power is probably way too high. I was going to do a battery replacement myself in the interest of time - but shawn at SRM convinced me to send it back in case there were other problems, and it's under warranty anyway.
But I figured, no big deal, i'll use my old wired SRM. Nope, it's not compatible with the BB86 giant frame. No way no how.
So right now I have a bike without a crankset. No backup. Let's hope SRM comes through with the one day turn around they so graciously offered.
I guess the only take away from this, if there is one, is if cycling is very important to your daily life, your mood and happiness and such, then by all means have 2 bikes, 2 SRMs, 2 of everything. 2 powermeters? better make sure they are the same or can at least be similarly calibrated like SRMs - else it will drive you crazy. I can't tell you how many athletes I have worked with that suffer through having a powertap and an SRM, or a powertap and a quarq - and then have to stress over every workout with potential differences in measurement. It will make you crazy, and the cost savings can't be worth it.
So I guess I'm sleeping in tomorrow and going for a walk with Kristy. I think I need another bike.
Cheers,
Pete
