It has been a tough winter in Colorado with long hours at work, cold and crappy weather and no suitable days to take my carbon Orbea out for a ride. I decided to start looking for a bike that I could use in any season and remembered how much I admired my buddy Frankie’s Specialized Cross Bike. I started to look for a bike on Craigslist and serendipitously I found an Orbea Cross bike., a perfect match for my princess – OR so I thought.
I tried out the bike and liked the ride. After buying it I brought it to my shop to have a full tune-up done and as they stripped the bike clean we found a major issue with the rear derailurer cable stay. It was about to break off. I thought to myself “no biggie – I’ll just have it rewelded’. “ I should have known I was in trouble when they suggested I talk with an Orbea dealer. I brought my new ride over to Littleton Cyclery who happened to sell Cannondales and Orbeas. They broke the news to me that with aluminum, welding is a very big deal requiring several steps, welding, heat treating and repainting. By the time it would be done it would be the same price as a new frame. My heart sank. Veronica said I froze at that moment!
So I called the guy I bought the bike from and he was willing to give me some money back and I kept the parts. Heck the parts were Campagnola, Paul's Brakes, Mavic Ksyrium wheels etc… I decided to give the parts new life and trade in my frame for a new Cannondale.
This 19 pound 60cm bike is the resulting product of new parts, old parts and a Cannondale Cross frame.
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