Big Red

So my bike has been a pretty big source of aggravation for me lately.  Since I have never done a triathlon before, I have been planning on using my old GT Outpost Trail mountain bike (Bid Red).


I know that doing a road race on a mountain bike is not ideal and not very comfortable. But she has been a solid bike for me in the past - well built, sturdy and best of all - Free!! - (at least for this race)

Free? - Yeah right!
I figured I would take Big Red to the local bike shop, have her tuned up and I'd be on my way.  Over the course of the next couple of months I plan on making some minor upgrades. For example, at some point I was planning on fitting her with some smoother, more road friendly tires.

Anyways, that all went out the window pretty quick. $150 later and all I got done was a tune up, some new break pads and hand grips. The one thing that I was hoping they would fix wasn't even touched.  I've been noticing that my chain is slipping off my rear gears when I'm pedaling hard. This is happening on the lower portion of the cassette usually on the sixth sprocket. Their assessment was that I should replace the entire drive train. So that's at least another hundred dollars. And that still doesn't include the new tires or any other upgrades I may want to add later. - But I only paid $350 for Big Red when she was brand new some 15 or so years ago.

Now what?
So, do I repair Big Red and continue or find a new bike? I'm still not convinced that I want to drop a lot of money to get a new bike. Especially one that will be good for racing racing.  I have been doing some searching for used bikes, but it seems that the value of a bike does not depreciate much. People are asking pretty near new bike prices for their old bikes.

I think for now I'll just fix the old ride. I haven't been on a bike in a long time anyways. So any time in the saddle is good, right? I have to keep reminding myself that I've never done this before.  My number one goal is just to finish.  If my bike leg is slow, so what? As long as I don't have to stop, I'll be happy in the end.

I'll keep an eye our though. Maybe I'll get lucky and stumble onto a good deal.