A Different Bike?!

 I told myself I'd ride Speedy for a year, before making any bike changes.  It's been just over a year, Speedy has 673 miles!  That - even though I couldn't ride from Sept. until my first ride in March of this year.  I think I'm ready for more gears & a bike that can do hills.  I'd been looking for a while now & had a folder full of possible hybrid choices.

We were in Omaha, when Butch suggested;  "Lets go look at Trek."  I'd shown him photos of some of the bikes & he knew the top of the list was the Verve 3 Disc.  The store was almost empty of stock, only two Verve's & both where XL.  I decided to go ahead & order one, the wait would be 3 months.  When I called last Friday - to be sure the rear rack was ordered - the date had been pushed out to the end of Sept.

I'd joined the Facebook Verve group.  Someone mentioned looking out-of- state.  After on-line searching, I found a Trek dealer in Lawrence, KS who had a small frame & color I wanted!  Friday, I was on the road by 8 a.m. & driving south.

The drive down was beautiful.  The trees leafing out with bright green foliage.  Just for accents, the Rosebuds were in full bloom, standing out with their bright pink/purple against all the green.  

Trek Store - Lawrence, KS

I arrived just after 11 a.m. & my bike was already being assembled.  All the bikes on the lower right, were Verve's!  Lots of stock, but only one small & it left the store with me.  I hadn't even been able to try out the bike, but Trek gives customers 30-days to make a return.

Ready to head home~

In just over an hour, my bike was ready to go.  The salesperson was 6'2" & helped me secure the bike to the rack on the Explorer.  I stopped by Rumza for lunch before starting the drive back north.  It was 1 p.m. when I left & just after 3:30 when I reached Glenwood. (383-mile round-trip.) I drove over to Silver City to show Mari Jo the bike before going on home.  Butch would be late driving an activity.

"Misty"

For being a style I'm not used to, after almost nine-years of riding Electra Townies, I do think it's nice looking.  Butch gave it the once over Sat. morning & that resulted in a trip to the Omaha Trek dealer, my new bike with us...

The back fender rattled.  The bolt that was supposed to attach it to the frame, had been broken off.  The right-hand shift & break levers were mounted incorrectly.  Once the technician at Trek Omaha looked it over, they also found the disc breaks were improperly adjusted.  The bike spent the afternoon at the Dealer under repair.  When we returned to pick it  up, we were told they'd broken their "easy-out" tool, trying to remove the bolt.  They had to drill a new hole in the frame to mount the fender.

From the Dealer in Lawrence~

Neither of us were very happy with the service I'd received in Lawrence...  There's no excuse for damaging a new bike & not being upfront about it.  Improper installation?  Isn't that the business they're in?  When I received an email from Trek asking about my "experience" in Lawrence, I was honest.  We'll see what they do to "Make it Right".

Next - we'll see how this bike does on the trail!