Superfly 2.0

I have to admit, I have a little something to be excited about today. My mountain bike, The Superfly (or Interrobang, as it is known in some circles), was damaged during my drive to California, as was documented in this blog some time ago. I had more pressing financial matters in recent times than fixing a bike. So, there it sat in my room, unrideable, until now. Several parts have arrived in the mail in recent weeks, and the last one I needed came late last week just as I was about to leave for some time in Mexico.

Is that a pink crankset? Why yes it is, isn't it pretty?

Yes, it was hard to leave knowing that everything I needed was just waiting to be assembled, but I had a job to do. Once I got down to Mexico, I got completely enveloped in the group I worked with, and I had an amazing time with them. Until I was on my way back, I had nearly forgotten what was waiting for me. As soon as I hit the border, though, I knew what my plans for the rest of the day were. Not withstanding any sort of disaster, I was going to get this bike built up to be rideable again. Done with work (once I had filed some paperwork), I headed straight home to figure out what tools I would need to rebuild my bike. Some were tools that I already had, including my seldom used but awesome work stand, but some needed to be purchased. Thanks to some wonderful people from Warrenton who sent me here with a parting gift, I had some credit at a local bike shop.

Thanks to everyone that chipped in for my gift card, the tools it paid for helped me to put my bike back together!

I used the remaining credit I had to buy the tools I still needed to fix my bike. Luckily, the guys at Cal Coast Bicycles are super friendly and were more than willing to help this novice bike mechanic understand what tools and skills were required for the job. Leaving the shop, I was still a little nervous about what I might mess up (Back on the east coast, Haymarket Bicycles took care of my every need, so I never had to maintain my bikes myself), but I felt fairly confident I had everything I needed. Looking at the half disassembled Superfly and the parts I had in front of me, I pulled out my newfound tools and confidence and went to work. Often during the process, I wondered if I was going in the right direction, but everything seemed to be coming together well. Very quickly, I decided that this awesome bike with it’s beautiful new parts deserved a little cleaning up as well. Even though I was anxious to get everything together, I took the time to do a little extra cleaning to make things just right. Yeah, it took a little extra time, but it was worth it to see an extra shiny finished product.

Here's a shot of the new, improved, pinkified Superfly 2.0. The new black wheels make it more stealthy which just makes the awesome pink crankset pop even more.

Of course, it would have taken me awhile even if I had not done the extra cleaning. Ultimately, the process was simple, but I took my time to make sure that I did everything right. Sure enough, when I was done, everything worked well. Although I am a novice bike mechanic, I don’t think I managed to make any huge mistakes. Red doesn’t go very well with pink, but I knew that full well when I ordered my awesome new crankset, so that doesn’t count as a mistake. Although I am clearly clashing with my colors, I don’t care, because I frankly love pink and all of the appropriate parts seem to be spinning smoothly. Hardly moments after the bike was put together, I was on it in an alley behind my apartment, giving it a test ride. Happy with the way it rode (apart from some shifting adjustments I will master as time goes on), I parked it in my living room. As it sat there, I got to appreciate the fact that I actually did a little bit of work on my bike myself. Plus, I knew I would get to ride it soon. Part of my excitement certainly came from the fact that I haven’t hit the trails in over three months. Yearly, it seems that I switch between being a roadie and a mountain biker. Bursting with pride over my newly rehauled rig, I came to the conclusion that this year I am a mountain biker. I have had a tough time finding the kind of roads I like in the San Diego area, so this works out just great. Really, I am hoping that I can find some great trails to explore so that I can take advantage of my new setup and stay fit. The fact that I have my mountain bike back seems to open up a lot of opportunities. Hopefully, I will find the sweet trails that I’m looking for and I can spend some good time on them. Darn near two months ago, I even heard there are some trails near our camp in Mexico. Already, I am dreaming that I am going to find some nice singletrack on both sides of the border. You know, I’m going to take the newly improved Superfly 2.0 (or Interrobang 2.0, if you prefer it) for a ride right now!

Adelante!

-Clint