Several years back I gave my son my old Specialized Hardrock
mountain bike to ride as he had outgrown his bike. That old bike had served me well since 1991 and I thought it
would be around for a long time.
You need to know something about my son. If I can find something that he can’t
destroy then it is something worth owning. I have often thought my son’s true calling in life is as a
product torture tester. Seriously,
he is tougher on things than anyone I know.
My Hardrock survived 2 years of extensive riding in the
Owyhee desert with my good friend Ron many years ago. It survived one of the first Bicycle Patrol Schools offered
up in Idaho, where, 18 years ago I met Rob, who told me his agency was
hiring. Then it survived another 2
years as a Police Bike for this very same agency.
The chrome-moly frame could handle just about anything. So you can imagine how surprised I was
when my son came home and the front fork was bent and crumpled. “What did you do?” I asked. “Nothing Dad. I
was just going down a hill and the fork collapsed.” “Nothing??” I
yelled. “No screaming down
Canfield mountain with your hair on fire or playing Evil Knievel and jumping
over things?!!” “Well,” he said
sheepishly, “I was going downhill.”
When I let my son torture test this bike, I had replaced it
with a Trek 7300 Hybrid, and had also purchased a Northrock for trail
riding. But seeing that old
Hardrock in the condition it was in just plain made me sad. Too many memories.
Having been the recipient of more second chances than I
deserve, I decided to disassemble the old bike and see what was salvageable – I
just couldn’t bring myself to drag it off to the dump.
The tires were completely shot, but surprisingly the wheels
were fixable. The frame was
straight and true, as was the fork stem.
Nothing else was worth keeping.
Seriously. Nothing. Everything was either bent or broke.
After a couple of hours on Amazon.com, I assembled a list of
replacement parts and a budget for the repair. Yes, you guessed it.
I could buy a new Hardrock for the money I am going to put back into
this one. Sentimentality is
expensive.
I picked up some parts at my local Specialized dealer and
when I told him what I was doing he replied, “Yep, we do that sort of thing all
the time for customers.” At least I am not alone.
The parts are slowly dribbling in as I can afford them, and
today I spent 4 hours and $16 cleaning the wheels and getting them back to spec
by replacing the bearing pack, bearing cones, and tightening up the loose
spokes. A new seat and seat
suspension is now installed, as well as new V brakes.
Its glory days as a Mountain Bike are over. When I get it all back together it will
be my “57 Chevrolet,” and will have an honored place in my garage. Just too many memories to let it go.
