waiting...

On the blog I left behind, I wrote about sending back the Habanero bike frame. They received it from UPS yesterday; I got the delivery confirmation online. Now, I wait for them to do something with it and ship it, or its replacement, back to me.

I know that it's a tiny thing compared to the problems most people have, but I'm obsessing over it. I want the frame back, and at the same time, I don't. I will never have that "beautiful, perfect thing" feeling I had when I first got it. Even though the frame will probably be a new one, it won't have the integrated seat clamp; although that is a technology that doesn't work, it will still be analogous to an amputation for me. The quibble about the bottle cage brackets being too close has become a major impediment. The pure metal grey, which initially reminded me of the stainless-steel finish of a DeLorean, now seems drab. Do I want a PedalForce carbon? Well, no - my fears of the carbon giving way (on my first fork) were what led me to look for another fork, which led to all of this (the headset on my aluminum frame couldn't be rebuilt, and it's loose). But the Masi Speciale Premio steel frame not only has a nifty paint job, but lugs, and a matching fork. Hmm...

Oh, well. I expect what will really happen is that I'll get the Habanero back, and grow to love it, and five years from now I'll be a ruthless defender of Habaneros in particular, and titanium in general. Already I find I'm looking forward to the minimal prep that a titanium frame requires on set-up.

I just wish I had it back, already. I hope they send one or the other to me quickly.

Edit: At 3:30, I've gotten an email that they're sending back a frame with the seatpost binder fittings ground off. The tracking number isn't in the UPS system yet... but I'm grateful, anyway.