Sticker shock on bike repairs...

Saturday, February 9, 2013
I dropped by Performance Bikes to check on the repairs being done on UB Express.  I was hoping to find it was done…and it was.  The clerk slid the final invoice across the desk to me, which I found quite shocking.

“Umm…I was told over the phone that it would come in around $150.  This says $325,” I said.  I was also noticing that my pedals were missing and that there was no tire on the rear rim.

“Well…about the tire, it says the ‘customer will replace’ and that the pedals are worn and dangerous,” he said.

“Yeah…I did say I was going to buy a tire and put it on, but I didn’t say take the old one off.  There was a new tube with that tire, too.  Could you grab it at least?” I said, studying the invoice.

I had spoken to Brad about replacing the rear cassette and I can see where he’d done that.  Unfortunately, he’d not added that into his phone estimate, which accounted for most of the difference in the charges.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want the work done or that I thought it was an unreasonable price, but once I bought a couple of tires, I’d be spending close to $400 and I’d told Holly a LOT less.  We agreed that they’d throw in a new tube since they couldn’t find mine and that they’d mount the tire and tube at no extra charge. 

“What are you going to do about those pedals?” he asked.

“Good question.  Kind of surprised he decided to take them off without asking me about it since riding will prove to be difficult.  I know Look pedals start around $100, which is more than I want to spend after all the other stuff,” I said.

And I knew I had my Trek 2000 hanging in the garage at home with perfectly good pedals I could transfer.  I paid and took UB home with that intention.

Once home, I quickly went to trying to remove the pedals from the Trek…only they weren’t coming off and I was getting frustrated.  I needed to work out still and I had to get the bike ready to ride tomorrow.  I threw UB back in the van along with the Trek and drove back to Performance for them to make the pedal transfer…which they did gladly.

I made it to the park shortly before dark with the intention of trying to incorporate back some lower body work since my calf has felt normal for several days.  I started with a couple of sprints across the snow-covered field, which felt pretty good.  I continued with some karaoke runs up an ice-covered bridle path and my sides were heaving when I reached the top.  I continued the workout with a goal of making it the toughest I’d done in some time and accomplished it by doing over 24 different sets before returning to the car pumped, but exhausted.

I spent the rest of the evening feeling the effects of the workout.  I like that dead feeling in my legs I get when climbing stairs because it’s simply affirming that I did a killer workout.  If the weather cooperated, I’d be going on a long ride tomorrow and would likely pay a price for my aggressive behavior today.  

Survival Workout:  60 minutes

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm.
Calories burned:  600