The 29" Fisher Paragon is dead.

I found 2, not 1 but 2 cracks in the chainstays of the Fisher. (My main ride and first 29er)
Unfortunately the cracks appeared where previous damage that was my fault had occurred.
One was damage from chainsuck the other was from tire rub.
No warranty replacement this time.
I was hoping the seattube would break again before those spots gave way.

I knew this day was coming.
I'm forced to do now what I had planned on doing.
Turn my steel, rigid, singlespeed, Redline Flight, into a geared hardtail.

So I start the job of switching parts over to the steel SS .
Off with the standard sliding dropouts and on with the dropouts with hanger hole.
No problem with the rear d, other than I think I needed a new shifter anyways.
It wasn't shifting right on the epic ride Saturday.
The bolts were frozen on my old Ergon grips and bars end and had to be drilled out.
Off with the rigid fork, on with the Reba air shock.
The back tire made the transfer with no adjustments necessary.
My biggest concern, the cranks. (the things the pedals attach to for my non biking friends)
Same ISIS type bottom back, I might be in luck.
Sure enough the cranks make switch with no problem.
Shit this is sweet.
So far I've got a steel geared hardtail with no money spent.

Last item.
Front derailer.
Ohhh, no can do.
The derailers made for a 35mm tube, the tube is only 30mm.
So as of this writing , I've got a 9 speed.

I took her for a test run at Rosaryville on Tuesday night.
The chain popped off of the front rings twice which was better than I expected.
I was afraid it wouldn't stay on at all.
I don't know what it was but everything felt off.
The bike felt heavy.
My legs tried to cramp for no reason.
I had no energy.
I enjoyed the shit outta the bike when I rode her a few months ago.
Maybe I've just got to get used to riding her again.

Tonight I'll work on getting the front d shimmed in place and I'm going to give twist shifters a shot.

I've got 3 weeks to whip her into shape.

Look at the clock, the sm100 is coming.