The future freaks me ... out

Or maybe it's the past. I don't know.

I do know the following things:

1) Fishing is good. Well, in some places at some times it is. At other places it is an exercise in futility. Grocery shopping for the winter is just about done...

2) The bike shop in Palmer seems like a pretty okay decent place. The owner seems cool, they have a Wildfire Designs bike (The "original" snowbike) hanging on the wall. They had the parts I needed to get back rolling and they didn't try to sell me anything other than what I asked for.

3) Strange creaking noises on the bike are never a good sign. Never.

4) Friday morning buses are packed - four bikes and every seat full, except for that one between those two people who take up three seats, but that's another story. Two bikes out front on the rack and two in the bus. I like seeing that.

5) The prospect of a broken frame pisses me off. In fact Surly is a bit on my shit-list. Though I have to put some of the blame on REI, I think. It seems like I've spent an awful lot on the Pugsley in a year and three months just to keep it rolling, both in time and effort:
     A. Rear hub adjustment one - August 2012
     B. Rear hub adjustment two - Sept 2012
     C. Rear hub adjustment three - Sept 2012
     D. Rear hub replacement - Oct 2012
     E. Rear hub adjustment (self-performed) - May 2013
     F. Rear hub rebuild (self-performed) - July 18, 2013
     G. New shift cable - April or May 2013
     H. New cassette - Sept 2013 (maintenance, I know)
     I. New cassette - Feb 2013
     J. New cassette - July 18, 2013
     K. Bottom Bracket/Crankset - May 2013
    Now some of these items are indeed maintenance items. Such as the cassettes, though I think the one that was on the bike originally wore a bit faster than it should have. I also didn't include the four or five chains I've put on in the same amount of time. One for each new cassette and at least one that broke on me. These items are in no way Surly or REI issues. However, the hub issues and the bottom bracket/crankset issue seem to point to poor assembly/initial adjustment or just overall poor quality components.

So, as I'm riding to the bus last night I noticed a random creaking noise coming from the rear of the bike so when I get home, I pull the rear wheel off to check things out. The bearings are crunchy and just generally not feeling good. So I get the stuff I need from the bike shop in Palmer, good guys, and rebuild the hub. Same creaking. So on the one hand I'm glad that I got the creak because it allowed me to catch a hub issue before the hub completely self destructed. The jury is still out as to whether or not the hub with last. There is some gouging on the upper part of the race, as if some of the bearings were jumping out of the race, but I'll wait and see what happens on that.

The bigger issue is the potential of a cracked frame. There's an interesting thread over at MBTR about this issue. http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/pugsley-frame-failure-828024-4.html. Seems like a lot of folks have had this issue. I hope, really really hope that I'm just seeing things and that I don't have cracks forming. It's in warranty and all, but it's still a pain all the way around if it is cracking and I have to get a replacement.

In other news - random people still come up and squeeze my tires and the Endomorph tire is weak. I've almost balded mine out with only about 1000 miles on it. Granted, it is my pavement tire, but still... Actually, it makes a pretty nice slick commuter tire this way.

Ahhh, but who cares now? It's almost the weekend and that's really all that matters, right? Maybe I'll even get a ride or two in on the trails.