A decade old, and thousands of miles….

My DOA TNT Ti HubIt finally happened. My coveted TNT Titanium hubs for my mountain bike have died. The front self-destructed sometime last week while I slept, and blew apart in the basement. I guess 4 frames, 2 rims, rides in 4 states across thousands of miles have finally taken their toll, and the little guy just couldn’t keep it together. Well, that and it has been radially laced for the based 8 years. That’d do it too.

It really is saddening since I built those wheels by hand. Granted, that was a lifetime ago and in a whole other life; really. But, there was a lot of work and years of practice that went into them, and I enjoy doing that type of work. Too bad I don’t have the tools to do it any more… oh well, that’s what bike shops are for.

I was just getting ready to get back on the rollers, which is a milestone in itself, since I am still only 3 months out from my transplant. I was downstairs, and Donovan tells me my wheel has wires poking out of it…. WTF? So, as far as I can tell it was just a random occurrence – nothing anyone did (or will fess up to).

I shall not be deterred

Luckily, Pete had a nice set of XTR wheels in his shop, and he was looking to sell them – so I did him a favor and bought them. It’s nice having such a good shop in town. It’s a pretty small town, and there isn’t anything as nice as Bike Gallery until I get to Pittsburgh. I found some big shops in Buffalo, but was really not impressed with the prices and the service.

Now it’s time to get back on the bike and see how it feels. I would really like to get bake in the saddle and hit the trails this year. I don’t have any suspension right now, so it’s going to be a bit… bumpy. But I am looking forward to getting back to it.

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