Amerika - Force of Occupation

My Phil Wood bottom bracket made it to my local bike shop today. The guy at the bike shop called and had to leave a message because I was very much asleep. As soon as I was caffeinated, showered, and shaved and all that, I rolled Baby out to the car, put her on the bike rack, and went to the bike shop. I had to leave her there overnight because I got there too late in the day for them to install the new part, and me get Baby all the way back home before work. This is what bike bling looks like:

The blue film is a protectant. It's not uncommon for these bottom brackets to last well over 50,000 miles before needing their bearings replaced. There was more packing material covering it when the guy at the bike shop pulled it out of the shipping box, but he took it off before handing the part to me. I was pretty bummed, but I already felt like I was being weird for wanting to take several pictures -- "It's for insurance purposes..." -- so I just let it be. Still, I feel like I missed out on a little something. I remember years and years ago, when I was still young and beautiful, hearing about Phil Wood hubs and bottom brackets as they were being spoken of reverently, and just assigning them to the, "it would be nice, but I'll never be able to..." bin of my mind. I'll ask for the cartons that the bottom bracket and those other shiny things you can see at the top of picture came in. Those other shiny things are the cups that hold the bottom bracket in to the shell on the frame. I do wish I had gotten a couple of side views of the bottom bracket that shows the bearing seals. Ah well, Maybe I'll tear the crank arms off when Baby comes home tomorrow if I have time.

The bike shop is in the space sharing a wall with where I currently work. I had to get to work, so I took my leave. As I was tearing myself away from Baby, the guy at the bike shop said, "Say goodbye to your bike." What an awful thing to say to a cyclist if ya think about it. Immediately out of my mouth came, "I never want to hear those words ever again." He didn't mean it with the finality I assigned to it, but still... Hush!

Many cyclists never get to have Phil stuff. I've been really lucky in a lot of ways. Baby is an evolving work of art. She has amazing components that I've worked very hard to bring together. The amount of money is dizzying. I suppose Phil stuff is similar to that other name in bicycle bling, Chris King, who manufactures parts that I don't suppose I'll ever get to own. As expensive as Phil Wood is, Chris King stuff is easily three times the cost, albeit for different segments of the cycling community. Phil Wood very much caters to bicycle tourists. I would love to have a Phil Wood rear hub, but by the time I'm ready to replace the hub that I have, there will likely be more of a trend to internally geared hubs. These are identical to old three speed hubs with about seven more gears packed inside. Someday, perhaps.