on derailleur hangers

and in praise of machinists

I love my steel frame hardtail.

No, this fool isn’t fawning over his physique.

My frame is a bit more soggy cat tail than steel.

And hard tail?

When it comes to getting along with others I’m a bit of an arduous arse.

Naw, I have a Brodie Climbmax steel frame hard tailed mountain bike.

I love how it rides.

Even better?

It’s this neat colour of blueish green that Laura always tells me that I get wrong.

Whatever colour you think it is - whether green or blue, it’s a really pretty bike.

It’s also cursed.

On the Lake Charlotte Mini Epic?

I caught a rock in my derailleur and limped the final thirty kilometers of the ride.

Then on the latest ride, the second ride back since it was fixed?

I caught a stick in the derailleur and ended up snapping the derailleur hanger.

That part is like a sheer pin in a boat motor.

It’s built to break lest you mangle your frame and make the bike unridable.

These hangers are frequently unique to the bike frame.

And my pretty little Brodie?

They only did one run of this frame.

No…