March 24, 2008

So long, old friend

I sold my Brodie on the Weekend. The purchase of this bike, marked the reintroduction of mountain biking in my life. However, in a few years I had outgrown the bike in the sense that I felt it was halting my progression as a rider. Therefore it was time to move on. When I bought this bike, it was a technological wonder in my mind, you see I have always been a bit low-fi when it comes to bikes. The bike before the Brodie was (and is, it's my SS commuter at the moment) a rigid Cannondale with cantilever brakes. So stepping up to a used hardtail with a Bomber up front and.... wait for it....V-Brakes! Was a quantum leap in my world. I felt I could launch of everything and stop on a dime. That feeling lasted for awhile, but a broken bottom bracket and some hairy moments on muddy downhill sections proved that those assumptions were not necessarily a hundred percent accurate. I later broke the fork as well, a rear hub, rear derailleur, cranks, etc. But those are just parts, and granted they weren't always of top quality. But the heart and soul of it all, the 2001 Brodie Spark frame, kept on ticking. After three years of abuse on two continents, it was finally time to give it up. I'd say about ninety percent of my time spent on that bike was alone in the woods. It brought me into a whole new world of mountain biking, calmed my restless mind, and made me forget about everything, for a few hours at a time. You have completed your mission, orange one. Time to fight somebody's else's battles. Thanks for fighting mine for awhile.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

já, þessi jálkur var flottur. Þetta er eins og með bílana, því eldri sem jálkarnir verða því vænna þykir manni um þá. Sérstaklega eftir ýmsar hrakfarir og leiðangra sem skilja eftir sig góðar minningar. Ég hefði haldið að þú myndir ekki geta selt jálkinn, en það er sennilega ekkert betra að eiga það og geyma inn í geymslu og láta rykfalla.
Annars er þetta áhugvert blogg með skemmtilegum myndum sem glæða hana frekara lífi.

Unknown said...

So long trusty stead. What you replacing the beater with?

Halldor said...

well, for now I have this idea of turning my old Cannondale M400 into a singlespeed mountain machine. It currently serves as my transportation to work but I need something for the mountain. Then I hope to get a five inch trail bike before the summer.