Part 1: Kris Saves Moab (for me at least)
At Moab last month, I was riding my brand new KH MUni, and having an awesome time. On Saturday riding the Slickrock trail, we had gotten out a few miles when everyone stopped to play on an awesome set of drops and rolling lines down into a sand pit. I was gapping over a stone step for a 3.5-4 foot drop and a pretty big gap to the side, for me at least. As I was falling, I realized I might not clear the bottom step, so I turned my wheel slightly at an angle, in order to not hit the step. I landed on the sand, but there was a rock under the sand I hadn’t seen before. I hit it to the side, and my tire folded, and somehow my rim hit the rock on the side, and it unraveled. I suddenly was missing 6 inches of my sidewall, and my tire came out of the gap. I UPD’d, mainly because my wheel stuck in the frame where the tire had come out. I waited around in shock for a little while, as one other person tacoed his Torker on nearly the same drop. (this was fixed by bashing the wheel on a rock, and he was able to finish the ride) Kris showed up and I showed him the wheel. He explained the problem to me: The rims had been manufactured with a small groove down the middle of the sidewall, which is a feature that makes brakes squeak when the pads are wearing out. Unfortunately, this made the rims a lot less strong, because the sidewall was suddenly much thinner, and the groove was right on the corner of where the double-walledness ended, making an effective breaking point. Kris said that a new batch of rims without the defect had been ordered and would be here soon, and that my rim would definetely be replaced under warrenty. He then gave me the key to the apartment where he was staying, and instructions to find his spare wheel, switch it out for mine, and keep riding. I walked my uni back to the parking lot, drove back to Moab, found the wheel and switched it out. We drove back to the parking lot, I got out, and rode back down the trail, going the opposite direction down the loop. I started meeting people, and rode on till i found the rear of the main group. I think this was approximately 4 miles out onto the trail. From there I turned around, and rode back, eventually catching up with the main part of the group. All in all, I still got (appriximately) 10 miles of riding/hiking in that day, even with an hour delay for changing my wheel.
I talked to Kris a while afterwards, and he told me to keep the wheel till I have my new rim, so that I have something to ride on. Not only did he save moab, he saved a long time from a lack of riding.
Part 2: Darren is the man, as usual.
Nothing was special about me getting my warrantied rim, but that’s why it was so great. The whole thing went off without a hitch, and Darren was great throughout the whole process. I reccomend him to everyone everywhere.
I got back home from Moab, and emailed Darren Bedford, from whom I bought my MUni, explaining the situation. On the 23rd Darren emailed me, and told me the new rims were in. I asked him for some new spokes and nipples, and he said he would send me some spares. Yesterday, the rim showed up in the mail, and I built it up today. Tomorrow, I’m going to pack up Kris’ wheel.
All in all, a bad situation turned out great, and I had my faith in humanity reassured. It was good in general.
