Nuclear Free, Needs No Oil

But I was alive! And as soon as I picked myself up physically and emotionally, I set about resurrecting the Rockhopper for its own second stage on the road of life.

The initial triage was performed at Uptown Bikes; I've bought accessories and parts there over the years, and most recently had the Rockhopper tuned-up there; reincarnated from a pure hardtail MTB to more of a fitness hybrid machine. On intake, the initial prognosis for the patient was grim; technicians at Uptown were not confident that the Derailleur hanger could be returned to its original state without severely fatiguing this steel appendage. Of course, many of today's Bike designs incorporate a replaceable aluminum hanger, providing for just such a contingency; a dillemma of which I myself was now forced to face.

A visit to the Kozy's Megastore on Milwaukee Avenue yielded the referral to UV Metal Arts, located in an Industrial Park zone of Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood. Owner Yuval Awazu was able to skillfully bend the damaged frame and hanger back to their original specifications; without any more stress and damage to this most critical part of the frameset.

UV should be commended for saving this key functional component of my Bike's personality; my only other options, should the repair fail or not be executable, would have been to either braze on a new hanger, or convert my once multi-dimensional speedster into a single-speed animal; a fate which I deemed worse than the scrap heap.

If I'd had my druthers, and a little more cash, I would have most definitely considered availing myself of UV's specialty -- custom powder coating. My chrome-moly frame has obviously withstood the test of time and trauma, but the paint job itself has shown the ravages of life on the road; whether it be rolling upright, or sliding along horizontally. A mini-tour of Yuval's shop, as well as his samples and works in progress convinced me that when the time comes for a cosmetic overhaul for this or any other Bike of mine, UV will get the call!