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@vvill 48742 wrote:

No local for me either. It seems the same as last year with some locales having local challenges.

I wonder if our local AOs like FABB and/or BikeArlington would be able to coordinate with NBC.

I thought you and I were the only ones listed for McLean – at least the last time I checked.

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This is easily my favorite thread on the forum.

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Every time I watch that video I just become absolutely furious.

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I bow down to you. No way in hell I could make it through a day doing that.

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@Jason B 47977 wrote:

I hate to say it, but a similar thing happened to me. Took a slight fall on the Roosevelt boardwalk. Rode for another couple miles and the derailleur cracked off in the same place when I started to crank up custis. The derailleur locked into the spokes and broke three of them. When I went into my LBS to ask if they could fix it, the first thing he asked was with no exaggeration, “did you fall before it broke?”
Fortunately for you, as previously stated, you have a replaceable disposable hanger, mine was fused into the carbon frame, essentially making my entire bike disposable. Needless to say I cried and cursed interchangeably.

Uggh. Sorry about that. The silver lining is that …. ok there is none, but it did cheer me up. Thank you.

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First things first, I contacted Steve and Alex at Transition Tri and they made the same assessment as you guys. They also offered to repair the bike for free and replace the parts at cost. They are also going to do an inspection for any other damage. Pretty generous of them, in my opinion.

It’s weird, when I was riding up 41st, I was in smaller ring up front and probably the next biggest ring in back (I need to take a terminology basics class so I can stop ^&%$ing up the names of bike parts). When I am on my Trek hybrid, I have 3 rings up front and go up on the middle ring and the largest ring in back with no issue. On the two road bikes I have taken up, the chain has popped off the rear ring and I have fallen over.

Since I fell on my left side, I don’t think anything was bent on the derailleur, but I also didn’t check it.

What am I doing wrong when going up 41st? Should I be in the smallest ring up front and in back?

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@dcv 47969 wrote:

Sorry, that sucks. You fell on your left side? (non-drive side?)

Thanks.

I did fall on my left side…and I am pretty sure everything was fine then because I was able to peddle on the flat part of the A530s up the hill, although the gears kept slipping. Everything went kerblooie once I got to the top of 41st.

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Ugh. I spoke too soon.

I was biking home today and the Ultegra drivetrain kind of exploded and took one of the spokes with it. I was biking up 41st street when the chain popped off and I couldn’t unclip in time and fell over on my left side. No big deal – it’s so steep it barely hurt and it actually happened to me on another bike once before. I was bummed it happened on this bike, but whatever. The bike was fine and I put the chain back on and peddled slowly the rest of the way. When I got to the top of the hill, I got on the bike and started peddling. A few revolutions in and I heard a clanging and clattering. The chain gave and I heard something hit the street. Turns out it was a piece of the pulley and the drive train had completely come off the bike – it was just hanging by the cable.

I was so pissed, I called my wife and just carried my bike for about a mile before she found me. GOOD THING IT’S LIGHT! Thanks to all the cyclists who asked if I needed anything.

Anyway, I emailed the previous owner to see if they would take a look at it. I don’t wtf happened. It just doesn’t seem normal.

I included a few pictures. The first one is me holding the piece I found in the street you can also see the broken spoke.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2645[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]2646[/ATTACH]

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@KLizotte 47858 wrote:

Pictures or it didn’t happen!!! :rolleyes:

My new office mate!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2632[/ATTACH]

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Woohoo! Success!

Great experience with Alex and her husband Steve at Transition Triathlon. I ended paying the eBay price and Steve said I could come by any time for a free adjustment. Steve said that Alex paid $4K for it, which seems like a lot…maybe they meant for the bike plus additional component upgrades. They are right next to the WOD in Leesburg, so I was able to go out for a test drive and was pretty much in love from the get go. Alex genuinely seemed to love her bike, too, and to my untrained eye, it seems like it is in great shape. I don’t think I realized that it was going to have carbon wheels and handlebars, too. The light weight takes some getting used to, but overall it’s just nice to have a road bike to call my own. To think where I was two years ago (no bikes, no exercise, miserable) to where I am now (bike commuting every day, happy, pretending I may do a triathlon one day)…it has me in a really happy place.

Thank you a million times over to everyone who took the time to give me advice and help on this.

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Heading out to Transition Triathlon in Leesburg this afternoon to take it for a test spin. Owner of the shop said he would help me with the fit if I liked the bike. I feel a little better that what was an anonymous craigslist ad actually turned out to be a husband and wife owner of a LBS. Prior to learning that I had visions of walking into an apartment and having the door swing shut and locked behind me.

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Wow that’s really cool!

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@Greenbelt 47662 wrote:

Are you pretty sure your size is a 54 (realizing that some 54s are not the same as other 54s!)? -Jeff

That’s a very good question. I am 5’10” and most of the charts I have looked at say 54-55 would be my best fit. Should I be concerned there?

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Thanks to everyone for their advice!

The bike did not sell on eBay so I am going to go out there tomorrow and check it out. It is not a woman’s bike so no concerns on geometry. It’s a married couple and they own a bike shop, so I am going to see if I can get them to throw in a deal on the fitting (if I like the bike).

If I can get the bike + a fitting for $1200 it seems like it would be a decent deal.

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Advice needed, again. As some folks know I have been trying to find a road bike for a few months. I finally found one on Craigslist that I liked, but I emailed the lister and they responded about a week later saying they had taken down the ad and listed the bike on eBay. The lister owns a bike shop in Leesburg called Transition Triathlon. If the bike doesn’t sell on eBay, then I can come out to their shop and look at it. The woman said the bike is in great shape and that she just wants to transition to one her shop sells. The listing is below. It is an Orbea Onix with full Ultegra. It is a 2006 model. Should I worry about the bike being that old? The price seems pretty reasonable.

Also, because I’m an idiot, I guess I don’t know if it matters that is was a woman’s bike? Is there a difference in women’s and men’s road bikes?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Orbea-Onix-size-54-Full-Ultegra-/251249098175?pt=Road_Bikes&hash=item3a7f9cfdbf

Thanks!

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