The Pig is Dead. Long Live the Pig.

 If the real Miss Piggy can change her wardrobe, so can my Cannondale.

4 November 2015

Miss Piggy in better days, August 2015

The hill Miss Piggy chose to die on was Ramapo Mountain in Passaic County.  Before that, she'd given me close to five months of chain-scrape free shifting.  After that, there was nothing left to blame but the front derailleur hanger, which, because she's carbon, was irreparably glued to the frame. 

I brought Miss Piggy into Harts on a Friday in the middle of October. Less than a week later, I learned that a new frame was on its way. One week after that on Halloween, the bike was ready.  The new derailleur hanger is configured a little differently, with bolts and rivets now, instead of glue. The seat tube now splits into a triangle at the bottom bracket.

The color and frame year weren't up to me. Surfing Cannondale's site for 2015 and 2016 frames, I felt disappointed. Berzerker Green, as Cannondale calls it, is still going strong. Other frames are white on black or red on black, but not in anything like an aesthetically palatable way. There's no curve in the carbon, except for the seat stays. There's no attempt to look streamlined.

When Ross texted me that the new frame had arrived, "matte black with red accents," I expected something different from what I saw a few days later when he sent me pictures. I got lucky.

She was still wearing her old shoes. Part of me wanted to keep the green tires on, as a memory of the old frame.  But when I got a good look at the new frame, I was certain that the old tires would have to go.

I'd already ordered new tires in red, but they hadn't arrived by Tuesday night. I fixed that, though, by using Kermit's red tires (they detract from the frame anyway, so I put black ones on instead).  I transferred the red tires, front to rear and rear to front, to Miss Piggy. The're in good enough condition that they can stay on until the end of the year.

So here's the new Miss Piggy.  Jim thinks Darth Maul would be a more fitting name, but I can't do it.

So that she'll better match the frame, I gave the Piggy puppet a red scarf made from a piece of old t-shirt:

She's ready to roll.