The Ortlieb/Tubus/Cannondale Love-Hate Triangle

I usually cycle to work but for about two months now, I've been tramming it or (rarely, walking) because I've had to put away my Crumpler bag which was giving my neck and shoulder hell. 

I have a Cannondale Quick Feminine 3 which I bought two years ago. 

I ordered some Ortlieb back roller panniers and a Tubus Logos rear rack from www.probikekit.com. (I'm plugging them because they had free shipping to Australia!)

Easy, right?

Should be straightforward, yes? 

Not so fast......here we enter into a tangled comedy of errors which is a recurring motif in my life. 

Turns out that that roundstays are way, waaaaay too short for my Cannondale. I don't understand this. I've got the shortest little legs and my bike is perfect for a petite person like me. How is it that the supplied roundstays (apparently 240mm long) are too short? 

So off I go trawling throught the internet. Thankfully, Tubus supplies different lengths of roundstays. After getting a ruler, I decided that the 350mm length would fit (the longest one they have!!)

Turns out that my delightful probikekit.com does not sell these roundstays, damn it. 

Turns out very few online bike stores do. 

I ordered one from another UK website which did not have free shipping. I justified the AUD$15 shipping cost by ordering some other cycling bits and bobs. 

Turns out that this website which does not clearly state this, ordering 1 Tubus Roundstay 350mm literally means ONE and not ONE PAIR. 

How the fuck was I supposed to know? Even Tubus gave me two roundstays with the rear rack and who the hell needs just one? I guess somehow I managed to ignore the fact that the picture on the website was of just one roundstay but damn it, that's near subliminal information, it's not explicit enough!

Imagine me ripping into the parcel and the look on my face as I find one and only one roundstay. I even turned the box upside down to look for the other one.

I wrote the store an email saying it would be helpful if you could maybe write somewhere that this does not come as a pair. I recieved no reply back which was why I decided to order from a different cycling store.  It's all about the customer service Cycle Sports UK...  Even a sorry about that, we'll take it into consideration would have made me a repeat customer and I would have bitten the bullet with another $15 shipping cost but nothing? Meh.....

I am now waiting for that one roundstay (for the want of a nail....), and an Ortlieb pannier carry system. Heck, I had to justify the US$25 postage cost somehow.

To be continued.....