Service with a Smile

 Service with a smile, doesn't that go back to the days when gas stations were more commonly referred to as service stations? I think so. 

There was talk around the workstand alright, but it wasn't just about my bike, and anyway the talk on that front was really mostly grunts at the strain of loosening up some stubborn chainring bolts before they, each in turn, made that satisfyingly strained crack as they succumbed to the leverage. You see, this model of cursed Shimano chainring hides the bolts on the backside and you have to remove the cranks and bottom bracket in order to get to them. I hope whoever came up with that design was fired. Anyway... 

Frank was in the shop as well, putting some finishing touches on one of the team-issue Bottecchia bikes while one of his SoCalCycling,com team riders, and this season's recipient of said bike, worked on a wheelset, before trying on some kit. Some of Southern California's biggest road races are taking place over the next few weeks starting this weekend at Murrieta, and followed by the San Luis Rey Road Race / California State Championships a week later, and then the five day Redlands Bicycle Classic. Not that I plan on hanging out at bike shops for no reason, but the shop talk is a perk when you can't get the job done yourself at home.

But why, you wonder, was I at the shop watching someone else wrench off a few chainring bolts so that a chainring could be replaced? Yeah, it all goes back to that bent chain I discovered a couple weeks back. Replacing the chain just led to more problems as the new chain would not mesh with the old rings; that led to some skipping bad enough to make the bike unrideable. By the time the weekend arrives it will have been almost a month since last I was able to ride the mtb without some trepidation that I might be pitched forward over the bars and into the dirt or, more correctly I suppose, the mud. Looking forward to that brings a smile to my face, and I have the crew that provided service with a smile to thank for that.