Bike Tune

I just got my bike tuned.

Unlike my plan with my skis, I have had this done professionally. Not so much because I do not want to do it, but more because I am not familiar and have never had it done before. Not an excuse, but an opportunity for learning!

I am having this done at Wheel and Sprocket off of West College Avenue, in Appleton Wisconsin. I bought my bike (a Trek 7200) nearly 12 years ago. I bought it and rode around the neighborhood a bit, but my primary riding intended to be Upnorth, where there are a lot more gravel roads, fire-roads, off-road trails and the like. Now we live next to a bike path and so the bike suits riding that path very well.

However, most of the bike’s life has been spent in the basement Upnorth getting a fine coating of sawdust and regular dust. Even after putting some good miles on it last summer it still had a fine coating of dust in spots. Another item needing looking at was the handle used to release the front tire. That had mysteriously snapped off on my last ride last summer. Nothing obvious was felt, but I noticed the tire was loose so I stopped and this provided me with real WTF moment; that part is, apparently, easy and cheap to replace. I was worried I would have to make a sizable expenditure to recover from that one.

Now, as you can tell one pattern you may see here, is I am becoming more pro-active and hands-on in the maintenance of my gear. This is to save me money, to educate myself, and to educate yourselves.. When I get my bike back, it will be at a good baseline and from that point, I will strive to keep it well maintained. The bike is a trail rider so it will get muddy and dirty and will need to be cleaned and detailed.