"Alas, poor Yoric, I knew him well..."

[Chris Zacho "Th]

Well, after 14 years (43,500 miles) of faithful service, my Schwinn Sierra frame finally failed me.
The left rear dropout cracked in two. No accident, in fact, the frame is still in great shape, the
dropout is just broken.

I've already written Schwinn and asked if they'll honor a lifetime guarantee offered by another
owner from another age. But I still wonder, Should I bother fixing it? Or should I upgrade?

it's mainly a "Beast of Burden", Probably 80-90% of it's life has been commuting. But I do
occasionally venture beyond the pavement. And, I must admit, the thought of having at least a rear
disc brake in the pernicious clay of this region IS tempting.

But is it worth the cost? Your opinions please.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Phil Brown]

>Well, after 14 years (43,500 miles) of faithful service, my Schwinn Sierra frame finally failed me.
>The left rear dropout cracked in two. No accident, in fact, the frame is still in great shape, the
>dropout is just broken.

This is an easy repair. Just find the local framebuilder. Like most of us he'll have done lots of
dropouts. Shouldn't be too much. Repainting will cost more. Phil Brown

 

[Gary Smiley]

Well, if you're looking for an excuse to get a new bike, now's your chance. They make them so good
these days. You know you want one. You're due. If you repair the Schwinn, you'll be stuck with it
for a few more years.

Chris Zacho The Wheelman wrote:

> Well, after 14 years (43,500 miles) of faithful service, my Schwinn Sierra frame finally failed
> me. The left rear dropout cracked in two. No accident, in fact, the frame is still in great shape,
> the dropout is just broken.
>
> I've already written Schwinn and asked if they'll honor a lifetime guarantee offered by another
> owner from another age. But I still wonder, Should I bother fixing it? Or should I upgrade?
>
> it's mainly a "Beast of Burden", Probably 80-90% of it's life has been commuting. But I do
> occasionally venture beyond the pavement. And, I must admit, the thought of having at least a rear
> disc brake in the pernicious clay of this region IS tempting.
>
> But is it worth the cost? Your opinions please.
>
> May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris
>
> Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Sandy]

Perhaps a nice chance to find out if the company will honor the warranty. If you get it repaired, I
imagine they won't consider replacing it.

And if they do decide to honor the warranty, and you end up with a reasonable replacement, you could
write about it here, where it seems everyone prefers nasty stories about slacker manufacturers.

And of course, if they don't do you right, then you have the honor of telling us about another
typical nasty experience, and the whole gang will join in at the chorus.

My own story - a new Kestrel that creaked horribly (BB). Manufacturer gave me a replacement
instantly, but I had to go around the LBS, who insisted, "creaking in carbon fibre is normal".

"Chris Zacho "The Wheelman"" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message
news:[email protected]...
> Well, after 14 years (43,500 miles) of faithful service, my Schwinn Sierra frame finally failed
> me. The left rear dropout cracked in two. No accident, in fact, the frame is still in great shape,
> the dropout is just broken.
>
> I've already written Schwinn and asked if they'll honor a lifetime guarantee offered by another
> owner from another age. But I still wonder, Should I bother fixing it? Or should I upgrade?
>
> it's mainly a "Beast of Burden", Probably 80-90% of it's life has been commuting. But I do
> occasionally venture beyond the pavement. And, I must admit, the thought of having at least a rear
> disc brake in the pernicious clay of this region IS tempting.
>
> But is it worth the cost? Your opinions please.
>
> May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris
>
> Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[John Everett]

" Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio" - actual quote (often misquoted)

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>, Chris Zacho "The Wheelman"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Well, after 14 years (43,500 miles) of faithful service, my Schwinn Sierra frame finally failed me.
>The left rear dropout cracked in two. No accident, in fact, the frame is still in great shape, the
>dropout is just broken.
>
>I've already written Schwinn and asked if they'll honor a lifetime guarantee offered by another
>owner from another age. But I still wonder, Should I bother fixing it? Or should I upgrade?

Pretty easy fix, I'd do it if you can find someone to fix it for a reasonable fee. Sometimes just
TIG welding the dropout back together is the best solution for an old junker, and you don't need a
frame builder to do that for you.

--Paul

 

[Vol]

Yes. After over 43 thousand miles of beating, it is worth the cost to get it fixed and either keep
the Sierra and ride something newer or give it away to someone who will do a few more thousand.

Opinions will vary, but the Sierra, IMHO, is not a bad bike, certainly too good a bike to hit the
trash over a dropout failure.

>But is it worth the cost? Your opinions please.

 

[Chris Zacho "Th]

Satisfied, John? ;-3)

I'll let you know how Schwinn/Pacific Cycles responds. I should know by Saturday or Monday.

I may just go with a somewhat better frame. We'll see.........................

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[A Muzi]

"Chris Zacho "The Wheelman"" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well, after 14 years (43,500 miles) of faithful service, my Schwinn Sierra frame finally failed
> me. The left rear dropout cracked in two. No accident, in fact, the frame is still in great shape,
> the dropout is just broken.
>
> I've already written Schwinn and asked if they'll honor a lifetime guarantee offered by another
> owner from another age. But I still wonder, Should I bother fixing it? Or should I upgrade?
>
> it's mainly a "Beast of Burden", Probably 80-90% of it's life has been commuting. But I do
> occasionally venture beyond the pavement. And, I must admit, the thought of having at least a rear
> disc brake in the pernicious clay of this region IS tempting.
>
> But is it worth the cost? Your opinions please.

A rear end replacement is trivially simple and cheap. Consult your local frame repair shop.

 

[dennisg]

Consider this: have the bike repaired AND get a new bike. As you said, the bike has provided thousands of miles of faithful service. There's still a lot of life left in it. So why not have it repair, then donate it to a Boys & Girls Club, or something like that. It's a great way to help underprivileged kids learn to appreciate cycling.

 

[John Everett]

On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 19:40:25 -0400 (EDT), [email protected] (Chris Zacho "The Wheelman") wrote:

>Satisfied, John? ;-3)

Not until you spell it "Yorick", as Shakespeare intended. ;-) ;-)

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

 

[Andrew Webster]

John Everett <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 19:40:25 -0400 (EDT), [email protected] (Chris Zacho "The
> Wheelman") wrote:
>
> >Satisfied, John? ;-3)
>
> Not until you spell it "Yorick", as Shakespeare intended. ;-) ;-)
>
For a man who found 20 or so ways to spell his own name, I suspect Shakespeare would have been
satisfied with any recognisable "Yorick".

http://shakespeareauthorship.com/name1.html

Andrew Webster