Yesterday’s 10-mile bike ride was nearly perfect. The weather was warm, but not hot, and it just felt great. I haven’t seen a turtle on the greenway this year. Maybe next time.
I adjusted my seat so it’s set all the way back. It feels more comfortable and keeps me from shifting around. The geometry of this new bike is a little different. I’ve read it’s smaller and the distance between the bars and seat is shorter. If the bike were any smaller, I think it would be too small. As it is, I’m comfortable with it. It does make me curious about other sizes. The bike shop didn’t measure me, and the last bike just seemed to fit. This is supposed to be the same model, but there are quite a few changes from the 2012 model to the 2013.
Cami has had an old mountain bike sitting around. I think it’s from 1994 or 1995. A search for “Scott Arapahoe” hasn’t yielded much information on the bike. We have talked about selling it, or giving it to someone, but the brakes weren’t working properly. The brakes are Shimano Altus CT90 and their claim to fame is having a failure-prone piece of plastic that holds the spring. The spring puts tension on the plastic part, which eventually breaks the brakes. Mwah ha, so funny.
We debated whether we should put any money into it, but we decided it would have a much better chance of finding a new home if it were running. Even if we don’t make any money, it’s better than throwing it away and having it serve no purpose. A local bike shop had replacement brakes (CT91) that are supposed to have solved the problem.
Both sets of brakes now work great and it shifts smoothly. It’s a solid bike so it should last a while. Everything sounds nice and quiet now, but it wouldn’t hurt to tear apart the wheels and repack the bearings. The bottom bracket could stand to be looked at as well. There is a recall from Shimano on the cranks. Apparently they can fall off. The guy at the bike shop said we just need to bring in the bike so they can look at the serial number and Shimano will send replacement parts. Awesome.
