Triathlon uses a lot of kit, and triathlon training uses even more. So some of it fails, but when it all fails at once it’s frustrating & time consuming to sort out, repair or replace.
I got my iBike power meter back from Velocomp in the USA, replaced under warranty after failing in the rain. It cost me to send it back across the Atlantic but it’s working better than ever & has been happily out in the rain a few times. I really missed training with power and all the other data this magical little devices measures, displays & records.
Crud did a great job of replacing the smashed part of my roadracer mudguards for the cost of the postage. Send them a few stamps with your address & they post back the bits you need. Great idea! The new part looks like it has had a little redesign so they’re still working on these things, which is also great. Easy to fit, and they fit in very slim gaps.
Sci-con also did a great job of admitting there has been a problem with some of the roller bags and sorting me out. My saddlebag fell off on a ride and was never seen again. I’m glad neither my phone or wallet were in it! They misunderstood and just sent me the plastic bit that attaches to the saddle (I still had that bit) but then sent me a complete new saddle bag and roller mounting when I pointed out the problem. From Italy! Nice. I had two of the bags so now I have three roller mounts. Maybe I should stick them on some of my other bikes. I only lost a tube, tyre levers and some patches. After this I’ll definitely buy another diddy saddlebag for my race bike from Sci-Con. The roller mount doesn’t fit the TT bike because the saddle is waaaay forward.
The strap on my Garmin 305 failed but instead of faffing about with getting a replacement from Garmin and potentially being without my main heart rate monitor and training computer for some time I just bought the quick release kit as it has a lovely big Velcro strap and comes with a nice clip-in bike mount so I don’t have to use pipe lagging round my handlebars. Less than £15 from Amazon.
I splashed out and bought some more Castelli cycling shorts. Cycling shorts can be expensive but damned important if you’re riding a lot. A pair of Adidas shorts I have leave smiley shaped sores on my butt if I cycle in the rain with them. I’ve stopped using nappy cream on Annabel & save it for myself. I never have enough training kit and really should buy some more running shoes, cycling shoes, socks, shorts, waterproof bits, jerseys, etc, etc, etc. Good stuff tends to survive the miles though.
Nothing major, but stuff that slows me down. I need to change the sealed bearing units in a front wheel and clean up some rust on the forks of my training bike (yes, its steel!) and some other typical maintenance stuff but that’s ok. A lot of that work gets done in the winter as long as it doesn’t fail before. I’ve also had to faff with other life hassles that really shouldn’t exist like chasing Littlewoods for furniture they’ve charged me for but never delivered and chasing Apple for an iTunes card that they didn’t authorise when they sold it. I hate jumping through hoops to solve problems other people cause. I love it when people accept responsibility and solve your problems like SciCon, Crud and Velocomp did. Hopefully training-wise I should be ok for a couple of weeks. I do need to find a wetsuit that fits though…