Trail Crony

I want a new BIKE!! LOL, sure we all say that. Then we go get on old reliable. Ya’ no, that semi well-kept, O’ please give me some maintenance, 7-year-old bike.  The one fell in love with, the very first time you laid eyes on her. A 2005  Specialized StumpJumper. This bicycle, was the coolest thing I had seen in a long time. Back some 5 years ago I meet this interesting(at the time of meeting him, I had no idea, just how interesting). Turns out this guy is my wife’s cousin by marriage. Cool,Cool. So we started hanging out and the first time I was at his house, he showed me an amazing hobby of his. He took me into his bedroom and, there it was, this shiny cool looking chrome colored, full suspension, hydraulic disc brakes and large knobby tires. “This is a mountain bike”, I said to him. “I mean, this is a mountain bike”. I was completely blown away. All I wanted to do was ride that magnificent machine. We stood there and I listen to story after story about his rides. I’m thinking, “wow this guy had better take me for a ride”.  Evidently, I wasn’t listen to well to the stories. Well, after a few rides then a few more. I had, realized, that there was a lot more to this MTB riding, than meet the eye.

So back to this bike, like I said, ” we had taken a few rides”. Then he decides to buy a new bike. My mouth was watering on what he was going to do with his, “bad ass chrome colored shiny full suspension hydraulic disc brakes and big knobbied tired bike”. Well Bill sold it to me on the friendship deal. That was just icing on the cake. So fast forward a few seasons.  Putting tires, new shifter, chain and brake pads is all I have ever done. Had it serviced once. “REALLY”, I say to myself. You have this awesome bike, you ride the thing all time. It costs lots of money to buy a new one. So why the hell are you not taking better care of your bike. Wait a minute! Are you really giving me a hard time about this. You knew about it too! I mean, we are the same person. I of course, am the better looking one but that’s not important. “OH!, that’s not important”. No, it’s not, now hush. Let’s get back to the topic. “Ok, my bad. Back to the topic”.  So 2 weeks ago I had it. Squeaky brakes, very poor shifting, cracked suspension. I took my bike to the shop.

Well after a week in the shop I called to see if it was ready. No, the shop said. They sent the wrong suspension part and had to reorder. So they told me to come pick up a loaner test bike. See manufacturer’s send these shops some demo bikes to let potential customers ride them in real world places to see if that bike is a fit. It’s a really cool deal. I mean you gonna pay upwards of $500 to $8000 for a bicycle then you are going to want to make sure it is a good fit. They let me have a 2012 Specialized Camber Comp to ride for a few days. This was a very nice bike. Mid-range at about $2200 for this model. I just loved this bike. The 29 inch wheels just seemed to walk over all obstacles. It peddled very easy and the handling was superb. It is a hard choice between this and a Stumpjumper. I will have to test the stumpy out to see if it is a better fit. So when I sell my car I will buy a new bike. I would say go test out a 29′er and let me know how you like it.