....and watch me eat this crow cold and raw.
After (in)famously spouting bile about Mavic and Shimano as wheel
components, irony has turned right around and given be the bite on my
ass that I so richly deserve.
I love USENET irony, and this one has me literally laughing out loud.
So, I get an e-mail a few of days ago:
"I read that you are looking for some good rims to build your wheels -
how about this deal?" He links me to a place that has Mavic X618s on
better than half-retail price sale ($45 each).
I start squirming. That's a hell of a deal. Quality, durable,
relatively light. And if they break, I'm only out about as much as I
would have been for X223s. Awww, [censored]. The bargain hunter in me
can't resist. So I sheepishly place the order.
I forget about my about-face, and go on a group ride Wednesday. In
comparison to the rest of the Palouse, the north side of Moscow
Mountain is cool and breezy. Right in the low 70's, according to my
car's on-board thermometer. It was 92 in the shade when I left the
house. Good ride, including a brand-spankin' new trail that had been
ridden previously by two other folks - the builders, who were along on
the ride. Loose and sketchy, when it buffs out, it's gonna be sweet.
Then they take us on a year-old trail called "Between a Rock and a
Hard Place." Yeouch! Holy [censored]. This short, maybe all of 1/3 mile,
is all technical, all the time. Vicious climbs, steep descents, in
one place skirting a 20-foot-diameter granite boulder (that's just the
part sticking out of the ground) on one side, and a very steep
exposure on the other. As an aside, since the area is mostly covered
with flood basalts, granite in the area is assumed to be part of the
original continent, and most likely over four billion years old.
Pretty cool stuff. Anyway, that was the "Rock." The "Hard Place" was
around the corner - another, smaller granite boulder with a tree
growing right up beside it, about 20 inches apart. And yes, the trail
goes right between them (nowhere else to go, other than the other side
of the boulder - which would have been just as challenging a route.)
My bars are a little over 22 inches wide. I have no freaking idea how
to ride that, except maybe by wheelie through with bars at a 45-degree
angle. I can't do that on my driveway, let alone a trail less than 6
inches wide. A sweet piece of trail ("trail", not "tail", Sorni).
So, back to wheels...
After the ride, I mentioned how I was getting some rims in to build
some new wheels, and I have to start my looking for hubs. One of the
guys pipes up, "hey, I've got a set of new XT disk hubs that I'm not
going to use, you want to buy them?" I feel the laughter bubbling up,
but I need to ask one simple question.
"How many holes?"
"32"
I immediately begin laughing, and of course, no one understands what's
so damn funny.
You do, because I got the set for $25.
--
Jonesy "my goodness, that tasted terrible"