Threaded's Eclectic Blog

Just as I was reaching the end of my morning commute the rear mech jammed up with ice and ripped off.

Result long skid mark and a dead bike. Boo hoo.

It was old, and I'd been wondering how much longer it could take the constant day-in, day-out, winter commuting punishment. Lesser bikes can only stand a few weeks before requiring extensive refurbishment, even in the good weather, but my old Ideal Axion, well, it just kept on going. My only beef with it was that occasionally the brakes would fail, but they were wire, not hydraulic, so any water that got in would freeze, shouldn't complain and it all adds to the fun of riding in snow and ice anyways.

Walked the last bit to work, and as I picked up the back end to swing it around in the cycle shed, the rear wheel fell off completely.

That's going to be fun to get home!





So, I get it home, and look at the damage. The dérailleur hanger is obviously snapped. Interestingly the rear wheel hub is wrecked, the bearings being ripped out of it, and there're a few broken spokes. The dérailleur is bent and one of the jockey wheels is off. So, it looks like a new rear wheel for starters.

Went to the local bike shop to source a new hanger, told to come back with the numbers from the bottom bracket. Goes back with them, and was told there was a letter missing. So I've now emailed Ideal bikes to see if they can tell me which one to ask the shop to order.

Labels: cycling