mechanic skills no good

Creak, creak, creak, that's noise I've been hearing off and on coming from my bottom bracket on the Mamasita. It wasn't too bad at first something that didn't really bother me because it would come and go some days worse than others. I knew it needed to be replaced but I just kept pushing it off knowing I had a spare and I wanted to see how much longer it would last before I couldn't take the noise anymore. I was kinda surprised that it didn't last longer, it was only a year old and I've got BB's that have lasted 3 or 4 years.

On Monday I took the Mamasita for a short ride in between breaks in the rain and the creaking had transformed into a loud popping noise, one that would scare a small child. I decided it was time to let it go to bottom bracket heaven or hell whichever it was doomed. After purchasing a much need tool that for sometime I didn't realize I needed I was able to remove the crankset much easier than before but that's a another story. I pulled the BB out and quickly realized the source of my problem. I had a nice hole in one side allowing water, dirt, and small animals to make they're home in and ruin the bearings.

I guess I must have hit a rock just right to achieve this one.

Anyway, the replacement BB I was using was actually a RaceFace but my crank was a Truvativ. After some inspection I deemed that they would be compatible since they both used the same style BB. Well there is obviously some small difference because after 2 days of trying I finally gave into the idea that a RaceFace BB will not work with a Truvativ crank even though they both use a GXP BB. I'm still not sure what the difference is but it was explained to me by a local mechanic and I just agreed with him and bought a new Truvativ BB not really understanding what he was trying to explain to me.

If it ever stops raining for more than a couple of hours I plan to take the Mamasita out for a test run to make sure everything is in full working order. Chances are with my poor skills I missed something or put something on backwards.

I did recently score a new seat bag which I have gotten to try out and get nice and muddy on it's first run.

The Topeak bag I bought earlier this year just didn't work like it should. After a good hard ride on rocky trails the straps would loosen up. I think it's destined to ride the roads on my commuter bike.

Yesterday I did manage to get a short ride in when the sun decided to come out for half the day. The roads dried out and I hopped on my Masi, something I haven't done in a month or so. I don't know why but I've just had too much fun riding in the woods and I've been neglecting my road bike so far this spring.

With the 12 Hours of Tsali on the horizon I better take what I can get as far as riding goes. I plan to do a little better at this race than the last one, that is if i don't get sick right before the race.