Farewell, Blue

Last week I rode my bike to Motion Makers (a nice little 30 min commute) and decided to give my bike, the Blue RC6, a little love (aka scrape the layers of dirt off of it). As I was wiping the frame, I came across a disturbing discovery. The paint was suspiciously bubbled up on a part of the down tube.



Hm. Further inspection on the other side revealed that there was indeed trouble in River City.



The bottom of the down tube also suggests that this frame is done for.



I found it hard to give this bike the love that it deserved in its short time with me. It's arguably the flashiest bike in my stable (or certainly was a few years ago), but I trained on it for a while. I disliked training; it made biking into a chore. I'm afraid the Blue got the brush-off when training did.

I dropped it off at the shop yesterday because I struck a deal with a coworker to dismantle it. I'll be selling the components and using the money for boring adult things like bills... and even more boring bills.

I considered having the frame repaired by Ruckus Components, a friend's company that does solid work, but the Blue is a touch too small for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing how I do without a road bike of a while. The build is getting old, too, and I want to sell the (mostly) Red group before its an antique.

I thought about getting a replacement frame for the road bike build, but then, I don't go on too many road rides. For my commute to work I'll be riding my 2009 Salsa Chili Con Crosso (voted the Most Beautiful Frame Ever by Me) with 1x10 cross gearing. Since my commute doesn't call for intense speed or have any truly difficult climbing, I'm cool with the cross bike! I can feel that it's more reactive (or twitchy) than some road bikes I've ridden, but I can deal. Maybe I'll add a road bike back into the mix later on, if an excellent deal presents itself or I decide I simply cannot go on without one.

So long, Blue. I'm sorry I didn't like you more. You were a fine bike.