Who's a bike wrench?

In the  summer of 2008, I was fortunate to land a job that allowed me to commute to work by bike. After years of not riding, I quickly rediscovered the joys of cycling. And along the way, I also rediscovered the immense fun that comes with being an amateur bike mechanic.

A bit of history...

I really got into bikes in my college days. My first mountain bike was a Specialized Rockhopper that I got in 1992. It was all black, with this strange reddish pink writing. It came complete with Shimano Exage components (with those awful push-push shifters), Biopace rings, and steel everywhere. Out went the old rings, stem, handlebars, and the shifters, and in came lighter alloy rings, new Zoom stem and bar, Onza barends, and newer STX push-pull shifters. And because this was the nineties, I had to put the obligatory blue anodized brake calipers and skewers! I loved this bike, but eventually sold it few years later.

My next bike was a Trek 8500 carbon/aluminum bike that I got in 1993. I remember it came with Suntour components complete with thumbshifters! Over the next few years, the rigid fork was replaced with the original RockShox Mag21, the Suntour components replaced by LX shifters/deraillers, the rear wheel replaced with a Shimano freehub and cassette, barends, and more blue anodized parts. As much as I tinkered with this bike, I never really liked the feel of the bike. I think the rear triangle was just way too stiff. I ended up selling the bike in 1996.

The Trek was replaced by a Stumpjumper Comp FS in 1996. This bike was loaded to the gills with good stuff. M2 Aluminum frame, full Shimano XT, funky rainbow anodized Mavic 217's laced to XT hubs and butted spokes, original Rockshox Judy XC forks, and some pretty decent Specialized house brand components to round out the rest. In the years that I've owned the bike, the only thing that I've added were a pair of barends. With the quality and caliber of the components, I never felt the need to upgrade anything. And due to the demands of work, I never really rode the bike much.

Fast forward to today...

After years of not being ridden, my Stumpy needed a bit of work to get it back into fighting trim. I ended up digging up all of my bike tools, and gave it a much needed tune up. Once the bike brain got fired back up, I thought about all of the modifications I could do to get it more modern. New shocks? Newer drivetrain? Disc brakes?

The possibilities are endless, and in just a few short months, I picked up a Giant NRS1 frame, and another Stumpjumper for parts.

The Bike Wrench is back!

-Shel