Back On The Horse

I finally got to replace my Microshift bar-end shifters and got out for a 35 mile test ride on my trike. It was a beautiful mid 40's day with lots of sunshine and little wind. A welcome reprieve from the harsh Winter cold, rain, wind and snow. It all started back around Christmas when I decided it was time to change my cassette and chain with an overall good cleaning. It was a simple job I had done many times over the years but when I reassemble everything it would not shift properly. Thinking I had done something to the derailuer when cleaning, I decided to swap it out. After many hours of frustration and still having shifting problems I brought the trike into my LBS. It took a while but my mechanic finally found the culprit which was a bad cable housing. Unfortunately, until that was diagnosed we had played and screwed up too many things. I took the bike home and all was not well. The next day after much frustration I brought the trike back and said keep it as long as you have to until you fix the issue. It was unseasonably warm and the only bike at my disposal was my Fuji beater bike. That was the beginning of my new found relationship. A few days later my mechanic felt all was good. Well it wasn't, and I took matters back in my own hands. It wasn't long before I bent the derailuer hanger beyond repair. The trike sat for a week waiting on a new hanger. Hoping that would solve my problems I took it out for a test ride and still had shifting issues. In the meantime I was quietly enjoying the simplicity of my Fuji and the short 20-25 mile Winter rides. To my surprise I managed my 64 mile birthday ride. Anyway, there was nothing left to change but the shifter which I suspected from the beginning. I was going through cables every 4-5k miles which seemed too often. In addition it seemed to have lost it's snap. So I decided to bite the bullet and ordered new shifters. In the 32k miles on my trike I have gone through 2 Shimano shifters and 1 Microshit. I believe riding a recumbent requires more frequent shifting hence quicker wear. I installed the shifters and was able to get a good test ride the next day. The new shifters are a slight upgrade and have a crisp clean snap and precise shifting.
I am happy to report after 2 long months all is good again.