Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
**** it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
process!

I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
has held up just fine, AFAIK.

Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
****ing complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
care about servicing 'bents.

Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!

I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
leave them around.