Another thing to deal with!!!
Hi Team, looking for some advice here. As you might know, I crashed my bike about 3-4 weeks ago; and on Saturday after my ride I noticed some weird stuff going on on the top tube. I took my bike to a bike shop and the confirmed that it is a crack ( actually there are a few cracks 
), the mechanic's words were "yeah, it might crack in half on your next ride, it might go another 1000 mile, it is hard to tell; but since this is something that is has developed in the last 2-3 rides it is not a good sign. Anyway, given that St George is in less then 3 weeks and I have to check in by bike to bike transport a week from Wednesday, what should I do? Here are some options that I can think of oh yeah and I am suppose to have my final race rehearsal on Saturday....
1) ride the race rehearsal with my current bike and see how much more it cracks, we marked everything with markers, if it doesn't crack more then maybe I will roll the dice at St George?
2) Get a road bike, I have always wanted a rode bike and I think it is easier to get comfy on a road bike then tri (if I can't get the same bike)...
3) Check out the crash replacement program and hope that i can get everything done before Wednesday, or try to get another frame that would be close to my bike...
4) Rent a road bike in Utah and figure everything else out when I get back...
Any suggestions or votes would be great, a part of me thinks that it would be totally bad ass to roll the dice; but the grown up part think it is probably really stupid.
I am going to go and cry my self to sleep now!
Comments
Ugh- I'm so sorry to hear about this- but don't panic, we will get you through this!!!
1. Completely freak out. That really blows. You are allowed.
2. Figure out how to deal with it. The best thing would be to buy a new tri bike tomorrow and then do you final RR on it.. No idea what you have now but something with very similar geometry that you can get the same/similar fit on will be key.
FWIW I have never really found my road bike to be more comfortable and would always pick the tri bike for a solo 112 mile TT. Now is not the time to be getting used to something totally different anyhow. The only way the crash replacement thing is going to work is if the shop has a frame in stock and really really really like you and are willing to swap all the parts by Saturday and or Wednesday.
Do you have another bike? What were you going to ride after packing and sending the tri bike to Utah?
No way I would just hope it does not fall apart. IM is mentally hard enough without having that rolling around in your head. Besides it sounds outright dangerous. You really do not want your bike coming apart on the road nor does the guy/girl behind you when it happens. Maybe its just me but if I were to stop in the middle of an IM to give you medical attention after your bike came apart under you and you were to tell me that you knew that might happen but were hoping for the best I would think you are a .... well you know.
TOTALLY SUCKS you have to deal with this in the middle of pre IM mania. Good Luck!
If you swing into action tomorrow, you can get a new frame shipped and have your lbs build it right away. They can do it fast (if they want to) and you can ride it with your saddle, components, bars, and measurements (get them from this bike if you haven't already) before you go. It's a stock QR?
If you impart a sense of urgency to the bike shop, let them know what you're up against, they should hook you up- or go to one that will.
You have time. Good luck.
horrible news! Great suggestions so far. I'd get the LBS involved and let them know what you are up against. Could they get a new frame and build it up, locate a used bike to rent or buy and sell when done? You could look for your same bike on eBay or Craigslist, but the time window is pretty tight. Do you belong to a local tri club that you could send an e-mail to and request to borrow a bike? I think using a cracked frame is a very last resort. I'm not sure the IM SG course is going to be all that kind to your bike.
tom
Nothing more to add, but to say that reading that pains me to my soul. So sorry that's happening.
So sorry- but better to know now and have a chance to deal with it than for it to break in the middle of your race. I agree, get a new bike ASAP like your current bike and get a fitting and some QT riding it to get the feel before the race.
Good luck... your EN fam is pulling for you!
If you can get a tri bike, do it. It will be better to ride in aero on that windy course than a road bike (unless you get a road bike with clip on aerobars--not the most ideal of situations). Riding on that cracked frame would certainly be the last resort.
Good luck!
So sorry to hear that. I'd also post your dilemma on the other tri board that shall not be named.
(You can say what you will about the posters on that board, but I have seen the "Peaceful Tribe" spring into action when a brother has a broken bike and a race breathing down their neck.)
If there's a upperend or professional Bike Shop in St George....call them, maybe they could rent/borrow one from them or they know someone who could hook you up....just a thought
Hi Team,
. I will miss my old bike though, it was beautiful and we had some many good/bad miles together
...
Thanks for all the encouraging words and suggestions, it is awesome to know that I can come to this great place and get great advices. After a not so great night of sleep and shortened swim and run this morning due to lack of focus I sprang into action when I got to work (uhhh, I mean I was really working too...). Contacted a local tri shop, a RA Cycles in NY (because they have some frames that has the exact same geometry as my 06 caliente on sale) and Quintana Roo. With in the hour I was able to come up with 4-5 possible solutions that should work. But in the end, the option that I went with is for Quintana Roo to ship a new frame to my local Tri shop and then will change my parts over. It seems that if everything goes well, then I can get my new bike Thursday night or Friday morning and my fit guy can recreate my position on Friday so i could get on with on RR on Saturday. I guess for now everything looks like it will be just fine, I don't even know when I was freaking out; I am glad I have you guys to calm my nerves.
Thanks again everyone!
Wei
PS By the way, the Caliente was discontinued, so QR is sending a CD.01 at a super sweet discount
PPS Since I am Still planning on doing my RR2 on Saturday, I guess I better stop slacking and post my RR1 report so I can get some more help with figuring out if I should do anything differently...
That is great, I bet you no longer miss the old bike once you get on the new one!
Glad it's all working out for you!
Now I will have to head over to the micro thread and see what the coaches thinks I should do workout wise..... keep your fingers crossed.
Dan, I can PM you what deal I got, but I have heard that it really depends on the company and the store that you are dealing with. Let me know if you still want the info, but the best way might be to just call your local shop that is a dealer of your frame maker.
Hi Team,
Just a little update about what happened, it was a little bumpy but everything sort of worked out:
Tuesday night (the 13th): Ordered the new frame and paid for Over night delivery.
Wednesday: Bike didn't show up even though UPS said it is on the truck to be delivered
Thursday evening: Bike was found but it was still in California; UPS swears they will get it to the store first thing in the morning on Friday
Friday: the Bike get to the store; the store said they will move my parts over first thing in the morning and I could still meet with my fitter before he goes out of town. However, when they open the box it was the wrong bike. QR pays for over night Saturday delivery.
Saturday: The store gets the right bike around noon, switched my parts over, but had to get a new crank set because my old FSA team issued compact does not work with the bike. I got the bike around 6 pm and went for a 1.5 hour ride. The position the bike store set up was close but I was having problems hold my FTP, thought maybe I was just tired but decided I will see how things go tomorrow for my shortened race rehearsal.
Sunday: 5 hour ride and 1 hour run. I was trying to work on my hydration, unfortunately it was so cold out that I had to cut my drinking way back and I was still peeing every 25 min or so. the ride was brutal, I felt like I was sliding off the front of my seat and falling over the aero bars. I had a real hard time riding steady and felt like by quads were doing more work then normal. I finished the ride way below goal watts, I was hurting in a lot of places so I bagged the run.
Tuesday: Took my bike to my fitter, the seat was 3 inches too far forward (in relation to the peddles) and was sloping downward an extra 4 degrees, I am hoping that is why the ride on Sunday was so crappy, didn't really have time to ride and make sure everything is right. I had to check in the bike to bike transport right after the fitting, and now the bike is on it's way to St George.
It wasn't perfect but at least I have a bike that is probably going to fit the same as my last bike. I guess I will find out when I take it for a spin Wed next week at St George. I am glad this part is over and I am just trying not to get fat or injured in the next week.
Be safe out there, crashing totally sucks!
Wei
Wei,
If it's not one thing its another. That overnight delivery sucked. Not that everythings in order you can relax and have a good race in St George.
Good Luck
Gordon
Wei, bring the bike to the Four Keys talk. Me and some other smart guys can take a look at it. At this point, I think your best bet is to be set up "safe," ie, not to squeeze every ounce of aeroness out of your position on a brand new bike. We can take a look and make sure you're set up with a "do no harm" position. Then you'll have Thurs and some of Friday to take it for a spin and sort things out like saddle hight, tilt, fore/aft, etc.
FWIW, on Thursday of IMCDA'08 I bought a new saddle in the expo an Adamo. So I went from a normal, Fisik saddle to a funky no-nose saddle. Took a bit to dial it in but it worked for me on race day. There are 24hrs in the day and you can fix anything if you're willing to throw enough time and money at the problem
Rich,
Thanks for the offer! I will go for a ride on Wednsday and see how the new tweak works, if I am still having problems I will be sure to bring my bike to the For Keys talk. By the way, since I am so freaking unflexible, I am not even close at squeezing every ounce of aeroness out of my position! So nothing to worry about there. And yeah, this whole throwing enough time and money at the problem thing works, but given that in the last 8 month I got married, bought a place (during the last 2 weeks, which I would not recommend when you have an Ironman to deal with; painting and destroying walls is a part of good taper, right?), my wife is not too excited about all the added expensive money is going to be pretty tight for awhile...