On June 22, 2006, the Independent Fabrication Planet X took a turn for the worst. I’ll rephrase that by saying I took a turn for the worst and in the process chose one of the 50 ways to leave your bike. You’re now probably saying to yourself, “What #*?@ are you talking about?” Rather than go into a dissertation, who better than to describe through the majesty of song, the brilliant songwriter and composer… Paul Simon. Take it away Paul!
Sung to the chorus of 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon.
You just let it slip of the rack, Jack
Make a crash into a van, Stan
You need a new toy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Forget about the rust. Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Drive under a low overhang, Cain
And get yourself free
The semi-short story:
While driving to a group ride I went under a low overhang and bent the fork on the Independent into a perfect right angle (Drive under a low overhang, Cain). Other than the fork and a SLR saddle being trashed, HubBub Custom Bicycles gave the bike a good bill of health. Though to be on the safe side we sent the frame to Indy Fab just to make sure.
A few days after sending the frame to IF for inspection I got the good news/bad news call from Lloyd Graves. The good news… The fork took the full impact of the overhang accident and there was nothing wrong with the frame in regards to the crash. The bad news… The inside of the seat tube was so rusted away that according to Lloyd “It looks like the inside of the Titanic.” From his perspective it was just a matter of time before the frame collapsed from corrosion (Forget about the rust. Gus). Lloyd went on to say that the frame was basically only good for a one to two lap pit bike, not a full time race machine.
I was the second owner of the Planet X and the previous owner had overstated the condition of the frame. He had assured me that the frame and fork were made in 2000, though raced it had been well taken care of, and had minor rust in the seat tube. As it turns out the frame was made in 1997, was in OK condition, and the rust was significant without the slightest hint of any Frame Saver being used to protect the seat tube from corrosion.
To this day I still feel that it was good deal for what I got. This was my first cross bike and it was a Planet X with a team paint job! After adding a few parts to get the bike fitted properly, I had an awesome cross bike for the fraction of what a new one would've cost. It was going to be hard giving up on a bike that had never once let me down.
No comments:
Post a Comment