Merry Life Day

Last Friday I posted about my chain drop issues with my SRAM 2x10 X9. Some of you were surprised that I called SRAM almost as a last resort. I have my reasons.

I've talked about this bike before:

My old AMP B3. That bike had more issues than Mel Gibson. While it was one of the lightest full suspension bikes at the time, it was also very fragile. Under the power of those massive legs shown above, I managed to crack a shock mount and destroy a rear dropout. That's not even mentioning the many rear shocks I went through. Eventually I upgraded the rear shock to an aftermarket Risse, and when the frame had run its course I took the offered upgrade to the AMP B4.

Up until that point I had mostly great experiences dealing with the company over the phone. New stays were shipped quickly, shocks upgraded when a newer model came out that "wouldn't leak oil", and there seemed to be a general interest in keeping me happy.

Not too long after I got my AMP B4, I broke it.

The carbon stays (seat and chain) came unglued from the machined aluminum yokes. My Risse rear shock broke in half, the XTR rear derailleur came crashing into the ground, the MRP Long Ranger chain guide ended up twisted, my big ring was taco'ed, and I ended up renting a shitty GT I-Drive to finish out my weekend at Tsali.

The customer service this time was not to my liking. They didn't care about my broken parts (I am slightly more mature now and realize that one should only expect a manufacturer to stick to the warranty). The most annoying part of the whole thing was talking to Horst Leitner himself (inventor of the Horst Link) over the phone. He let me know that my leaky shock issue that plagued every version of every shock I ever had from AMP Research was very isolated.

Really?

I approached everybody and anybody I saw at races that had an AMP rear end on their bike (other manufacturers also used the AMP Research Macpherson Srut rear ends and they were everywhere), and I never saw one that didn't leak oil. They all looked as if someone had sprayed a spritz of black spray paint on the seat tube.

Meh.

When the frame got back to me with new carbon stays bonded and riveted on I never built it back up. I had already purchased "the last bike I would ever own", a Titus Ti Hard Core racer, and the AMP B4 went on the MTBR Classifieds.

So why not just call a manufacturer when you have a problem? I have no good reason other than the fact that I was once burned and lied to by someone who tried to cover up the smell of his own sticky, proprietary turd. I promise I will do better to be a less prejudice piece of shit in the future.

That's way too gloomy of a post for a Monday morning. Let me make it up to you.

I give you The Star Wars Holiday Special video in its full two hour form complete with Bea Arthur as the bartender.

Can't believe your eyes?

Yes,

The Star Wars Holiday Special

My God... it really happened. It's so bad... sooooo bad. Harvey Korman was quite brilliant though.

Hopefully it will play for you. It was working last night. I swear it's enough to turn a Star Wars fan into a Trekkie.