The Big Disappointment

Another Big Stampede has come and gone, and I wonder if this might be the last. Even though I wasn’t really in the market for anything, I was still looking forward to it. Turns out there was a lot of shit there I didn’t really want to see.



Yuck.


Sorry about that. Even if you include the hairy ass crack, there just wasn’t a whole lot going on at the Big Stampede this year. It seemed like vendor turnout was low, and there wasn’t a whole lot in the way of goods being sold. The stuff that was there was mostly roadie anyway, although there was a little bit of mountain bike stuff sprinkled in. It just wasn’t very busy.




To offset the cost of admission (five bucks), I wandered around looking for deals. I ended up spending money on shit for the other people in my group.





Little Miss Sunshine got some roadie shoes and pedals, and I bought Lunchbox some new gloves. Even though a few deals were had, I still didn’t feel like I accomplished anything. Besides, I didn’t get anything for myself yet.


I looked through everything for sale, and came close to buying a few things. I didn’t have anything in mind, but I eventually realized that I could start shopping for upgrades to my singlespeed bike. I looked for some new rear cogs, but the only ones I could find were 18 and 16 tooth. I have those sizes already, and I was on the lookout for at least a 17 and 19 tooth. Since I couldn’t find anything, I thought about other things on my one-geared bike that needed to be upgraded. After glancing over at a table full of suspension forks, I realized what I should have been searching for all along.




The shitty fork on my singlespeed was well, shitty, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to upgrade. I saw a fork that fit the bill, but I had used up most of my cash helping the rest of my crew buy things. I quickly started looking for an ATM machine. The Dirty Party Cycle had his skateboard in the car, so I grabbed it and set out to find some cash.



Although I couldn’t give a shit less about NASCRAP, it was kinda cool rolling around on a skateboard on the infield of the track where the swap meet was held.




After getting some more dough, I headed back to claim my prize. I got a helluva deal on a RockShox Reba Race.



It was in great shape, and I offered the proprietor eighty bucks for it (it was listed for $85.) He didn’t hesitate, and sold it to me right away. The fork was in awesome shape, and everything seemed to work just fine. It would quickly replace the current fork on my singlespeed.




Although it’s an older model fork, it’s way better than the one I had. Since I am a spectacular bike mechanic, I swapped out the forks in record time.




Even though I picked up a few things at the Big Stampede, I’m sill not convinced that it was worth my time. It seemed like there were far fewer attendees this year, and the items for sale weren’t as good. I almost felt like I wasted my time, but at least I got a better fork out of it. I also got to see lots of my cycling friends, which helped make the day a little bit better. I’m not sure if I’ll go next year. Hell, I’m not sure if there will be a next year. I guess I should start stocking up on parts so I don’t have to suffer anymore. I don’t like to be disappointed.