Another Round Of Changes

Just about when the pandemic started, our two cats were diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. The disease was already advanced in one of the two girls. She lived longer than the vets had given her but passed away two years ago. Her sister, now 19 years old, is hanging in there. She is only still around because we are doing everything to give her the best quality of life for the time she still wants to soldier on. Care-taking, whether it is for an elderly parent, a disabled child, or in our case, aging cats with a progressing chronic disease, requires a big part of one’s time. My riding has dropped from a peak of 8’700 km in 2018 to 3’000 km last year. Because of that, a couple of my bikes have not put on more miles. Since I had to be at home a lot for caretaking, I had time to take care of my dormant bike fleet. I replaced and updated components, instead of riding and replacing my bikes as I normally would.

Some cyclists ride a bike for a year and get a new one. There are obvious advantages to doing that. If you own a bike for only a year, you won’t need to do a lot of maintenance. You will replace brake pads, maybe the chain, and you may go through a few tires depending on your mileage. It is unlikely that you will replace anything else. I am not like that. If I like a bike, it will be with me for several years. Many of my bikes have undergone multiple transformations in those years. My 44 Big Boy fat bike went through four wheelsets, three cranksets, and two forks. Only the frame kit, calipers, saddle, and cranks are still original on my Nordest Albarda. It went from 2x11, 2x12 to 1x12 SRAM Force AXS, and I have ridden it on three different wheelsets.

In October, I updated both my Nordest Albarda and my Volagi Viaje. This month, I realized that it would only take a small investment to upgrade my Ritte Snob Disc from 2x11 to 2x12. So, I did. What had to be done?

• Volagi Viaje (first built in March 2019)

• • SRAM Red AXS rear derailleur ➡️ Ritte Snob Disc
  • ➡️ SRAM Red XPLR AXS rear derailleur from Nordest Albarda

• Nordest Albarda (first built in October 2019)

• • SRAM Red XPLR AXS rear derailleur ➡️ Volagi Viaje
  • SRAM Red AXS brake/shift levers ➡️ Ritte Snob Disc
  • ➡️ New SRAM Force AXS brake/shift levers
  • ➡️ New SRAM Force XPLR AXS rear derailleur

• Ritte Snob Disc (first built in October 2015)

• • ROTOR Q-Rings Direct Mount DM Oval Spidering, 2x, 50-34T ➡️ sold on eBay
  • SRAM XG-1190 11-26T 11-speed cassette ➡️ sold on eBay
  • SRAM Red eTap HRD 2x11-speed hydraulic brake/shift levers ➡️ sold on eBay
  • SRAM Red eTap front derailleur, FD-RED-E-A1 with chain catcher ➡️ sold on eBay
  • SRAM Red eTap rear derailleur, RD-RED-E-A2 ➡️ sold on eBay
  • ➡️ SRAM Red AXS brake/shift levers from Nordest Albarda
  • ➡️ SRAM Red AXS rear derailleur from Volagi Viaje (previously Nordest)
  • ➡️ SRAM Red AXS front derailleur out of spare parts cabinet (previously Nordest)
  • ➡️ SRAM XG-1290, 10-28T cassette out of spare parts cabinet (previously Nordest)
  • ➡️ Rotor 48-35T Q-Rings out of spare parts cabinet (originally bought for Nordest)
  • ➡️ New SRAM Flattop chain
  • ➡️ New XDR freehub for Industry Nine rear wheel

Overall cost: CHF 900.00, which I fully covered by selling a bunch of used bike parts on eBay. Total eBay sales from the above, a wheelset, and some other spare parts CHF 2’034.00. My bikes are in better shape, and my piggy bank gained a little bit of weight. That cash will go towards a pair of red Hope XCR Pro E4 brakes for my 44 Marauder.