New bike!
My poor bike of 14 years died last week. I had managed to crack both chain stays.
The crack is on the left, just next to the bracket. Another crack is on the far side.
I had been riding it a lot recently, but I probably didn’t ride it as much as I should have over the years – and certainly not enough off-road. Still, I guess it was just metal fatigue that caused it. On the bright side, I now have a shiny new bike:
My new bike. This one is a darker shade of yellow.
At first, when I tried it out at the shop, it felt very strange. It was like I was too close to the handlebars. But I put it next to a few other frames, and they had roughly the same dimensions. After a few more test rides it started to feel pretty good, and it was ridiculously cheap (on special), so I bought it! After adjusting the position of the handlebars and seat it’s feeling a lot more like my old bike. It’s comfortable except for the seat, which is as hard as a rock. I put my old pedals on it too, breaking an Allen key in the process.
Viva la new bike!
Edit: for those interested, it’s a Scott Sub 30. Those are the default pedals in the photo; I replaced them with SPDs.
Looks like a great bike for commuting!
If you want the handlebars further away, you could take the spacers out from under the stem (and replace them above it) or flip the stem itself upside down so it points downward instead of upwards. This would make sense if you want to reach further forwards and downward.