I've been off of my Marin Bear Valley SE mountain bike recently because my wheels were too brittle to keep riding. I'm fortunate that I have never tacoed a wheel badly enough to have to replace one. But, lately the wheels became so weak due to metal fatigue that I was putting the bike into the shop every other ride to replace spokes.

When you get to that point, you're only viable alternative is to replace the wheels. What's surprising is it took eight years of occasional riding and two years of pretty intense three-season riding to finish them.

I'm saving my money for two mid-priced road bikes, so I didn't want to spend too much on a new set of MTB wheels. I bought a pair of Mavic CrossLands, the least expensive Mavic mountain bike wheels, from my Knapp's Cyclery, one of the best local bike shops I've found in Mercer County, NJ.

The wheels cost me about $220 plus installation plus tax-- about the same as I would have paid for the wheels if I bought them from many mail order dealers. I went to a local dealer because this is the kind of purchase where I want technical support. I don't own a truing stand, so I would have had to bring any wheels I bought into a dealer to make sure they were straight anyway.

I am so happy to have the bike back on the road. It's too hot this time of year to run every day. So, I'll be splitting my exercise time between running and riding over the next few weeks.