What to do? the old avalanche is getting on in years!
I managed to mangle the hell out of it up at golspie the other day, on the black (after the hard bit just after the shortcut before the wee bridge) Landed hard, spokes burst through the rim, burst the back tyre and decided to take the derailler with it, result: 3 spokes missing, mangled derailler(on it's last legs anyhow) and a cracked rim where one of the eyelets went right through.
Luckily i managed to single speed it(On granny and 4 i think, so very weak gear) and tighen the spokes and get the rest of the descent done at a reasonable speed so all was not lost, well I missed out on a trip to Balblair and Carbisdale that i was intending to do as i wasn't wanting to push my luck too much with the back wheel, but thems the breaks..
Btw if you take in golspie, avoid the town it's a bit grim and best avoided if you ask me(though the beach is nice). Also as good at the trail is, it's short and tbh not really worth the travelling, doesn't really give you much different from any other trail centres.
So options I see here are:
1. Get the wheel fixed, if possible(not sure how fatal the crack is yet) and single speed it as a commuter(I've got tyres I can switch). I'd be looking for advice on this a i could only get it to settle on the granny and 4.
2. Bite the bullet, get the wheel rebuilt(36h sun mtx on pro2), buy new derailler, dropout, and fix it.
3. dump it in the shed and buy a cheap commuter(which i want anyhow) and save up and get a new bike for next year..
On a positive note Aviemore was the bees knees, and will be getting visited regularly i reckon, only got a taster really, but i've a fair idea about the place now(did round about rothiemurcus, glenfeshuie and the glen einich up and down, top notch.).