Today, I took the easy way out and called my brother. His pickup truck is a much much easier way to transport the recumbent then either my car or Mrs. Newleaf's. Breakfast at a local place seemed a reasonable compensation for the lift. He enjoys the place, and I do love my steak and eggs 🥰.
In any event, the breakfast place was right next to a bike shop which isn't convenient to reach by bike, but is a dealer in Sun recumbent bikes. When I walked in, the woman behind the counter glanced at my bike and asked if it was the SX. It is. How very happy making! Then the wrench came out to take a look. He immediately identified the brake screeching problem as likely related to my specific brake pad brand, an issue he's seen before. He said he should be able to handle it. If not, he knows another brand with similar performance which should fix it for $14 per set. Done.
Then he looked at the front derailleur and deemed it both too high and mounted at the wrong angle. I think my recumbent is finally in good hands. It'll be another 7-10 days, but after 6 weeks of waiting for the other place to return it in worse condition than they received it, I feel good about this place. The only reason I haven't brought the 'bent to them before was the beguiling convenience of riding to the other place and walking home. That, and the PITA of loading the 'bent into any vehicle we own.
To be fair, the other place was great until they opened a 2nd branch. It's gone steadily downhill since. It may be a minute before I return.
The less convenient store sells and supports recumbent bikes and trikes, cargo bikes, folders, tandems, MTBs, and everything in between. They have also been in business for better than 30 years. I bought my recumbent used from a local non-profit, but it's entirely possible they were the shop who originally sold it.
I should be able to handle such simple matters on my own, and likely could if my patience weren't at such a low ebb. To paraphrase Patrick Farnsworth of
Bikes or Death Podcast fame, I just want to ride my
[email protected] bike. I'm lucky enough to live in an area where there are a range of LBS options, even if some are less local than others. Lazy I am, for now at least. Hopefully this time the laziness works out better than it has the past few trips to the other place.
I'm grateful to have other bikes to ride, but I miss the recumbent.
. While I have the skills and materials needed to easily patch the offending tube, this dude called i12 has convinced me to investigate other options.
