Back in Please Dad I blathered on about how I found myself riding a bike in my late 30′s and introduced the Canadian Tire distributed Supercycle BurnerAL that got me started. That is the best thing that can be said of it. That and it’s shiny…ish. 
I logged 40km on it before it committed suicide, almost taking me with it. Fine payback after replacing the tubes, cleaning it up, adjusting all the mechanisms and trying to bring it back from a state of neglect. Perhaps it knew I was already looking for a replacement.
It was during one of my I’m working up to the commute distance rides when it happened. Riding through the Max Bell area, I was coming down from the parking lot, standing up and pedaling hard. It broke, according to the GPS, at the same moment I hit 30km/h and started to sit back down. What broke? Well the seat of course! It was pure luck that it simply gave away the moment I touched it. Had It happened while I was actually planted on it, things could have been rather disastrous. The break happened right at the end of the tube gussets, in the weld zone. A close inspection showed clear embrittlement of the tubes where they’d been up against the weld bead. That’s just poor manufacturing.
For four days I jonesed without a bike, no outlet for my new-found passion. Thomas had recommended a cyclocross style bike – put simply a road bike designed for changing terrain – grass, gravel, pavement, mud, snow. He’d found a couple of Canadian-made Devinci Tosca SL2s for co-workers and they confirmed they were pleased with their purchases. Being of marginal means, I found an older Tosca listed on Kijiji and sent of a text to the seller (do people actually talk on their phones anymore?). It quickly became evident they were not a bicycle enthusiast, clear they had little idea what kind of bike it was, what model, year or even it’s size. ”It’s orange” they said. I asked if it was sized for a woman - which is admittedly vague and totally without standard – they were pretty sure it was a woman’s bike. I responded that it was too bad as I was looking for one for me. They were pretty sure it was sized for a man now. I hemmed and hawed but couldn’t stand being without a ride so made a date to head over and have a look.
To get to the seller, I had to pass by a large pawn shop and thought “couldn’t hurt – who knows what might be in there”. I headed straight for the little collection of bikes and found all manner of BMX and children’s bike, but nothing for me until <cue halo glow and angel choir> there it was. Spit-polished (maybe not actual spit…then again maybe, this is the ‘hood we’re in) glossy black frame with sharp white decals. A MEC brand, Chinookmodel mountain/hybrid style. Disc brakes, suspension forks, twenty something speeds…Ich muss es Habin!!
Rescue Me...please!
I looked at it for a while, looked at the price, looked at the components. I don’t know anything about components – I’m not sure what I thought I’d learn by looking at the derailleurs and the cranks. I checked the MEC website to little avail – the Chinook was apparently no longer available (though it is again now) so not a lot of information available on it. I did find a price – $850 retail. About half the cost of a Tosca SL2 so maybe half the bike….but I’m a new rider and I can trade up next year using my employer’s generous $600 per year fitness credit and have this year’s credit to pay for this used one here…now…in front of me.
I got a clerk to free it from it’s zip-tied state and tried it on for fit. Hmmm…fits nice. Which is to say I didn’t feel cramped or like a child on his dad’s old 10-speed. I had no idea if it fits. I know I can ride it comfortable for good distances today so…maybe? I’d pretty much made up my mind to buy it by this point so I sent Best Wife a message looking for a little SST – sober second thought. Here I am supposed to be looking at a cyclocross being hawked by a seller with no clue and I’m about to buy this bike that Thomas didn’t recommend because I’m sucked in by the paint and my desire to have it right now. Trace did her best but I was hell bent on leaving with it. I must rescue it from this pawn shop! I bought it without knowing whether I could even get it in the car. As I tried to stuff it in unsuccessfully, a helpful patron pointed out the quick-locks on the wheels so in the trunk they went (the wheels, not the patron) with the frame wedged into the back seat. Chain grease on the leather? Bah – I don’t sit back there.
It was perhaps not the smartest buy and unquestionably impulsive. I occasionally wonder if I should have bought the Tosca but I see it’s still for sale, months later. I’ve added some new street slicks which are as the name implies, slick. Any detour into the grass and particularly loose climbs are a lost cause but thus far I’m spending most of my time on the pavement. I pulled over the $30 Plant Bike seat I’d put on the broken bike (before it was broken clearly) and added bar ends for want of somewhere else to put my hands, some variation in position.
With an official 1170km on it now, the Chinook has performed without complaint, it’s lone flaw being that it threw me off as I attempted to corner it like a moto-gp bike. While still pedaling. I suspect this is not a flaw so much as the cycling version of a PEBKAC error. All hail the Rescue Bike!