From: bretcahill@aol.com   
      
   > What was the final nail for the company I worked for was another company    
   > bought us out.  They did not spend any money on updating or ever    
   > overhauling any of the equipment.  Just ran it and when it broke, would    
   > do the minimum to get it running, even if it ment robbing parts off old    
   > equipment that may be needed later.  When the plant was almost ready to    
   > fall down so the speak, they sold it to another company that did not    
   > know how bad of shape the plant was in.  During the years it went from    
   > over 3000 people to about 300 before it finally shut down.   
      
   It's always interesting to see how degraded/off spec machinery can get and   
   still run.   
      
   I put 7,000 km on a chain and cassette in addition to the high mileage already   
   on it when I acquired the MTB.  I used WD-40 every few months even though the   
   heat and dust caused it to start squeaking after 3 weeks.  Maybe 20% of the   
   time it was    
   lubricated.  The performance dropped off slowly enough it was like the frog in   
   boiling water.  I never really noticed how bad it had gotten.  Eventually the   
   chain "stretched" -- actually the pins wear -- so much that it would skip   
   under any force at all.   
      
   When I finally put a new chain and cluster on it was a life altering   
   experience.  I went 50% faster and further.  On the down side I've been afraid   
   to go into the dirt ever since.   
      
      
   Bret Cahill   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)