As many of you know, my husband became a reluctant Clem owner this winter. And when he settled in to the look of the bike (he had pictured a Specialized but decided he would like to match me instead), he determined some personal touches were needed that would really make it his. "I want a crate. On my bike. And I want a cup holder and some beachy shoes and a newsboy hat." He was going for a certain look - one that says, "cruising on the boardwalk on the California coast" though he lives in the Mohave desert. There was one company that made what he was looking for. We ordered the crate in May and waited. And waited. And...waited. The owner offered up excuses as to why the crate hadn't arrived. He assured us it was in the mail. More time went by, so he offered 50% off and we waited some more. Finally, I got him to cancel my order and refund my money since months had gone by with not so much as a tracking number. To his credit, he did as I asked. Meanwhile, nothing else online presented itself as a viable option. Summer vacations came and we forgot about the crate.
Inexplicably, in early August a tiny box arrived. I opened it to find a stack of flimsy sticks that was supposed to be our crate. No instructions, just a stack of sticks that resembled those free paint stir sticks you get from Lowe's. Well, my husband hadn't given up the dream yet, and fueled by his good fortune "It was FREE!" he set to work at my dining room table. Out came power tools I hadn't seen in years. Whirring and sawdust and consternation ensued. My dining room table sustained damage. But the end product was undeniably what he had envisioned, though a bit flimsy. He and the boys shellacked it for a finished look. The mounting hardware was impossible and cheesy, which necessitated the purchase of a Surly (good old Minnesota!) porteur-style front rack. The only reason he broke down and ordered it was that he had avoided spending any money on the crate. We had his rack installed (only $10!) but the LBS mechanic handed back the crate and said he was ill-equipped to attach the thing. Undaunted, my husband drug our whole family to Lowe's where he scrounged through the nuts and bolts section and decided on the pieces he would need to finish the project. When we arrived home, he brought his bike into the hallway (horror) so he could work in air conditioning. He employed some very unconventional methods (the screws are upside down) but his crate is attached and functional. (I wonder if it could qualify as "crapsmanship?") We went to church like this, coffee flying out his lid and smiling the entire way! Scroll through to see his popsicle-sticks-turned-crate. https://www.flickr.com/photos/daytondogg/28954720182/in/album-72157633589413214/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
