Goosey

Mongoose Crossway
Purchased at Performance Bicycles, $420 included a free new helmet, May 26, 2008.

Rocky wasn't making the 14 mile commuter trip too good for me. I started dreaming about the perfect bike. I wanted something reliable, comfortable but kinda aggressive like a mountain bike and with disc brakes. I was obsessed with having disc brakes! (I am rolling my eyes still) I shopped, and shopped and annoyed every bike shop in town looking for the perfect bike. My list of wants was long and in the end I was broke. I sold my Trek 1000 road bike for $450 and that was the money I had to spend.

The Mongoose kinda looked like the Gary Fisher Kaitai I wanted, kinda. But since it was $250 less I got the 'Goose, and they threw in a free helmet, sweeet!

I was happy. The bike seemed happy.

We rode many a miles together. I was a full time commuter.

With full time commuter problems...

We had fun on long 5+ hour rides through the Atlanta streets. Everything was going great. I was feeling fit and having a lot of fun just riding. I was racking up miles with 100 mile weeks. I was faster than I was on Rocky, but leisurely enough still to really just enjoy the town and riding with friends.

Then the disc brakes started squeaking...is this something I am causing to happen? The LBS said I need to just clean them more often. So I did. Then the cables stretched. So I adjusted them. They loosened up again almost immediately. I took it back to the LBS, they adjusted them, they were great for about two days then got loose again. I took it back, they said it's because I have crappy, cheap brakes and that I was going to have to adjust and clean them every couple rides. Are you kidding me? I thought a bicycle was supposed to be low maintenance. Daily adjustments is high maintenance in my book.

Then the boyfriend (who was gone all summer) complained that I was too slow on Goosey and needed a road bike again for him to enjoy riding with me. I took the seat (which I find incredibly comfortable) off Goosey and put it on the Allez so I could be faster on rides with the man. The front brake is still really loose as I grew sick and tired of adjusting it and just gave up.

She is sitting 'seatless' in the storage room right now. I put her down there last month. I couldn't look at her anymore. I felt so let down. Everything was so good for awhile....