As I have mentioned before, to any one who would listen, I love, love LOVE my Trek 820! It's been a good bike and I don't know that I can bring myself to part with her but I needed a change. The problem is, you see, that my wife got herself a new bike. A hybrid. She dusts me now. I can't keep up on a bike that weighs as much as the 820 with wheels as small as the 820 and towing 40-50 pounds of child and trailer behind me (she claims that I deserve he handicap). To be fair, there were a couple of thins on my "wish list" for the 820, the most significant of them being a rigid fork. I have long said that if any thing ever happened to my 820 I would replace it with a bottom-line Trek hybrid. When a 2011 Trek 7.2fx popped up on my local Craigslist for pretty cheep money and in "very good condition" I had to go take a look at it. What started out as a bike purchase soon became a bike rescue.
It was clear that this thing had sen better days.It was scuffed up for sure and needed a tune-up but it seemed to be mechanically sound so I forked over the dough and took her home. I decided that, since I have more time than money right now, I would do the tune-up myself. It's not going well. I have been at this, off and on, for days now and it sill isn't right. What I need to do is get all new cables and housings for it. I had to bring the back wheel in and have a spoke replaced and trued though, and the set me back a few dollars that I didn't want to spend. Now, I can't get the front wheel to spin freely. It stops in the same place each time, indicating to me that the front wheel is also out of true. OR I adjusted the breaks wrong. I haven't even started on the shifting problems yet! It's been a lot or trial and error so far and I am "this close" from throwing in the towel and punting it to a professional. I suppose it's easy if you do it every day but despite the simplicity of a bicycle it's a delicate process getting it "just right".
I am eager to give this thing a real ride and see if it's every thing that the 820 was but, you know, faster! I guess I can head down to the LBS and get the cables and stuff but I'm afraid that some of the components might just be worn out and that I can adjust to my heart's content and never get it right and never figure out if it's me or the bike that's out of sorts. If I start throwing more money at this thing I might as well just buy a brand new one. Oh, and it wasn't a 2011. It was a 2007. Kind of a different beast. Maybe I'll just put it back on CL and get the new one after all.
Signed,
Frustrated In The Tween Space.
It was clear that this thing had sen better days.It was scuffed up for sure and needed a tune-up but it seemed to be mechanically sound so I forked over the dough and took her home. I decided that, since I have more time than money right now, I would do the tune-up myself. It's not going well. I have been at this, off and on, for days now and it sill isn't right. What I need to do is get all new cables and housings for it. I had to bring the back wheel in and have a spoke replaced and trued though, and the set me back a few dollars that I didn't want to spend. Now, I can't get the front wheel to spin freely. It stops in the same place each time, indicating to me that the front wheel is also out of true. OR I adjusted the breaks wrong. I haven't even started on the shifting problems yet! It's been a lot or trial and error so far and I am "this close" from throwing in the towel and punting it to a professional. I suppose it's easy if you do it every day but despite the simplicity of a bicycle it's a delicate process getting it "just right".
I am eager to give this thing a real ride and see if it's every thing that the 820 was but, you know, faster! I guess I can head down to the LBS and get the cables and stuff but I'm afraid that some of the components might just be worn out and that I can adjust to my heart's content and never get it right and never figure out if it's me or the bike that's out of sorts. If I start throwing more money at this thing I might as well just buy a brand new one. Oh, and it wasn't a 2011. It was a 2007. Kind of a different beast. Maybe I'll just put it back on CL and get the new one after all.
Signed,
Frustrated In The Tween Space.
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