Broken Shifter

Not too long ago, the left shifting cable broke. Now, they always break at the top, in the shifter, just to make your life more miserable. You have to get rid of the barrel that hold the cable in place, and unstick it from wherever it decided to go.

The left one was fun. I didn’t know shit about shifters, and I unscrewed everything that was unscrewable. And all of a sudden a loud POP, and the front cap of the shifter was gone. I labored for days, checked web site, asked on bbs-s. But everybody told me just to buy a new one. I went to PerformanceBike, and they shocked me with $300.

I sat down for a long while and figured it must have been the recoil spring that had popped. So I tried to put it back. It took a while, but in the end it worked, and I had my shifter back.

Now it’s time for the right cable to die. Of course on a sunny Saturday morning, when I am just in time for the Spectrum ride. I turn around, try to fix things right then and there, but fail.

I try to fix that damned thing by myself, but to no avail. I go to the Bicycle Oufitters at Loyola Corner, and there Jose (who is a really nice guy) tries to fix it. To no avail. He says that the shifter is somehow stuck and that he can’t get it to shift all nine gears – only eight.

Why do I spend $1500 for componentry that dies after 7000 miles, I don’t know. I could have bought and thrown away a dozen cheaper bikes for that same money. Tomorrow it’s a visit to the doctor in Palo Alto, and we’ll see if they fix it on warranty and how long it’ll take them!