Thursday, June 7, 2012

Well, shit.

A couple of days ago I took my bike to the shop to repair the headset.  A bicycle headset resides in that short tube of the frame up front.  Handlebars go in the top.  Fork comes out the bottom.  The headset is composed of bearings and washers and all kind of magic things.

Well, the bearings in the bike are shot.  It'll cost about $100 or so to fix.  In light of the hundreds and hundreds of dollars I've dropped on this thing lately, another $100 is nothing.

The guy who is doing the work at the bike shop told me it'd take 10 to 14 days to get in the bearing set.  That if I wanted, I could pick the bike back up, then bring it back again once the part came in.  He told me that he'd see, first, if it was in stock, and then call to let me know.

He left me a message yesterday.  Telling me the part was not in stock, that he was going to go ahead and order it.  I didn't bother calling back.  I decided instead to just drop by and pick the bike up.

When I got there this morning, told him I was there to retrieve the bike, he said, "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, but I went ahead and took it all apart.  Because you didn't seem all that interested in getting your bike back right away."  I said, "Chad, you're the one who suggested getting the bike if the part's arrival was going to be delayed." 

"I know, I know.  I'm sorry.  I should have asked on the voice mail I left you if it was ok to start working on the bike."

"Ok, no problem.   Just put it back together and I'll get it tomorrow."

"Uhhh . . . well, you see, the bearings were really shot, and we don't have a press to put them back together and . . . uhhh, I'm sorry . . . "

"So, when is this part going to be in?"

"A week?  10 days at the most, maybe?  Do you have another bike to ride in the meantime?"

"No, I don't."

"Oh, gosh, I'm really sorry, but . . . "

Well.  There goes my riding for awhile.  Dammit.

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