Bonus Blog Entry

Adam needed to replace his headset and was doing some Googling on the local bike shops to help him decide who should do the work. Well when he searched on “Encina Bicycle Center” he got one result which was “Diablo Scott’s Bike Blog” and discovered my secret. I haven’t told many of the people that are IN my Blog ABOUT my Blog because I thought if they knew they were being written about they might change their behavior just to see what I would write. I always did write with the idea that someday they would find the Blog though and I didn’t want to be embarrassed by or have to apologize for something I’d written. I think I’ve always maintained my objective to be complimentary to other riders (with the exception of goobers and posers) and not too full of myself even when I shine.

Well Adam came to talk to me and explained how he found my Blog and asked me more about Encina Bicycle Center and I told him they have some top notch mechanics who I would trust to do a great job on a headset replacement. He was hoping to find someone who would do a Ritchey Scuzzy Logic Pro headset for him since Ritchey sponsors his Organic Athlete cycling team, but he didn’t like the conversation he had with the person at the LBS that carried Ritchey components; nothing really bad, but it lacked the kind of self-assurance you want from someone who’s going to do perhaps the most delicate surgery a bike ever goes through. So after talking to me, Adam called Encina and talked to the mechanic himself and came away from the discussion with confidence that Encina would get the job. Later in the day he brought his bike up to the shop and talked to the same mechanic again and they worked out a service package that included installation of a Chris King (high zoot!) headset, truing his Dura Ace race wheels, truing his conventional every-day wheels, and straightening his derailleur hanger. The mechanic also spotted a couple of small cracks in his Slice fork (almost invisible to me even when I knew where they were) and pointed out a few other things for Adam to keep an eye on. So Adam wanted me to post a Blog entry where I give big props to Encina Bicycle Center, and I certainly think they deserve it. If you found this report useful, and it helped you decide to give Encina Bicycle Center some of your bike business, tell them “Diablo Scott sent me!”.

And another side note: I had to replace the battery in the head unit of my Flight Deck computer today. The “LoBatt” display is a really nice touch that I haven’t seen on other cyclo-computers and it means I was able to take care of it before it conked out (which would surely have been on a PB attempt). The bad news is that the previous battery only lasted 5 months… hmmm. By the way – I bought my Flight Deck computer at Encina and they even replaced the first one when the little “all clear” button got stuck and they programmed in the initial information for me. Plus they honored the sticker price that was on the box even though they had raised the price that comes up when they scan the bar code. They’re also a good source for HammerGel, my wife’s Trek Multi Track came from there as did her helmet and my daughter’s too.