I think it should be Ok. Once it was fully dismantled he clearly knew what he was doing. He took some time making sure everything including the bearings was tightened securely and correctly. Hope for the best.

Ouch. I predict a trip to Eugene in your future. That part's not supposed to come apart, based on my experience.

Trek is it for downtown now, which is really sad. There are a couple of promising ones on the inner east side we’ll check out next though. The mechanic highly recommended Clever Cycles, which specializes in folders, e-bikes, recumbents, cargo bikes and the like. He says they’re the best bike shop in town, so we’ll give them a try.

Dodie always asks for wheelchair assistance. It helps in getting priority boarding and if the terminal is large it helps save the knees. You might want to consider getting a folding trekking pole for those times when walking distances is unavoidable. REI carries them.

So glad that you found those socks. Without them I have found the swelling from airplane travel to be really uncomfortable. Love, Dodie

I'll have to give GM Jim a call. That's a real loss for the PDX cycling community. Another independent shop closing. When I lived on the north side of the river there were some wonderful bike shops down there that are now closed. Don't know about down there, but in the Tacoma area Trek has been doing a major flex.

Yes! We need and opportunity for you and Jacinto to have a proper meeting.

Ooh! This light reminds me of my visual field eye test this morning..🫣

I’m back home now as well. It was great meeting up with both of you again, and the Branhams. I’m glad my son and my friend Jan were able to meet you this time. Hopefully we can meet again in Tucson next winter, but it will depend on the political situation at that time. I hope your trip to Europe works out the way you have planned. I will be following along with you on your blog. Safe travels.

That would be amazing. They’re really beautiful, colorful birds when you get the right light on them. Ben Park back in MSP told us he had one that lived in the pond behind his back yard too.

I’ve got the mechanics down for removing the pedals, and can always get them off with the heavy duty spanner we carry along. I just need to remember to not walk away and leave it on the ground when I’m done! Seems like a simple enough rule, but in my defense I could hardly see things down on the ground because my vision was so bad at the time. I’m glad I wrote so much down at the time, because it’s getting hard to remember how awful that entire month was now.

Pulling the stem is a real problem though with the newer Bike Fridays. The first NWT’s we got back in 2009 had a leverage point where you could pry the stem up from below with the spanner, but now there’s no option but to muscle it free. Another change I don’t like is that I miss the old split handlebars, which were much easier to pack into the suitcase.

I’m the same way. I liberally grease the pedals whenever I install them, and don’t tighten them much past finger tight. Its been nine months since they were installed though, and a lot of tightening happens.

I recently sold a bike to a 75 year old friend. Perhaps with age you learn to work smarter and not harder. Having my own pedal removal story from years ago, I learned to be liberal with the lube when installing pedals. They generally come off with a minimal amount of work. Blair came equipped with not only a full size pedal wrench, but a rubber mallet. He went tap, tap on the wrench, and that was it! No brute force needed!

Really nice bird shooting this day! But the reason for this note is to say thanks for mentioning the pedals/pedal wrench. We had been planning to make sure our pedals really would come off, for the possibility that the bikes would need to go in a bus somewhere down the line. This afternoon we have a bit of time, so on reading your post I went out and had at it with the wrench, which we do have. Yup, one pedal (put on last year by a gorilla mechanic) did not want to budge. But I fought with it long enough that it gave in. It's often a matter of getting the crank just so you can apply maximum force.

Your difficulty getting the stem out is one you have had before. As you've described it, that's where you do need the gorilla mechanic. Bike Friday is very prone to this problem, eh.

I had one of these nest in my front yard maple tree in Corvallis, that was a big surprise!