If you don’t know the story, scroll back a couple of days and read it first, lest you be totally lost.

First off, when I was told that the “surefire” bottom bracket cup kit to make my frame work was being overnighted to me, that wasn’t true. It was sent 2-day. When I opened the package, I find that I’ve been shipped a single aluminum bottom bracket cup. Unlike the “wrong” kit that was sent days earlier, which included two bearings, two cups, and an instruction manual, this is just one, bare cup (Joel talked to a C’Dale tech who said that it should have been two). I take a closer look and see that the only difference between this and what I’d received previously was that this was a normal cup that had been honed out a little (it was very obvious by the lack of anodization and scoring on the inside surface)

I’m not even going to try to build any sort of suspense here. When I installed it into the drive side of the frame with the bearing, the bearing didn’t turn smoothly. It didn’t bind up nearly as much as before, but it made an obvious “click” as it rotated. There’s no way a bearing would remain viable for any length of time in that situation.

At this point, it was after business hours. I called Joel and let him know that on Monday, please inform Cannondale that the only viable options for me are to either A) get a perfect, new frame, NOW, with a perfectly functioning, ceramic bottom bracket installed without any shop-made band-aid fixes, or B) Send the frame back and get a refund. I’m not playing this “lets hone something out and hope it works” crap any more. This bike retails for $7700. I haven’t been able to ride it since OCTOBER.

I’m going to a road race in Arkansas tomorrow morning. I’ll be riding my cyclocross bike.