I talked about it for a long time before eventually making a concerted effort to find one. My sister (and yes I am blaming this on you. Partly anyway! :P ... ) suggested I find a cheap second hand bike somewhere, so I searched on Gumtree.
The bike I bought was a bargain (you know where this is going already, don't you?) at £40! I decided to spend £30 on a bike helmet (best to be safe on the road, since this was going to be an ambitious new hobbie and method of transport!) and £10 on a pump and a lock.
Took the bike to work for the first time and it was great: A proper trek that wore me out, but I liked "feeling the burn" and I realised it would get easier with time! Cycled home from work. All good!
A couple of days later I decided to cycle into town to meet a friend for coffee...
KABLAM!!!! Pssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttttttt....
Here. Have a puncture buddy. Do you like that?
Umm No. Not really.
Well, guess what, it's a huge big screw, wedged right into the tyre. How do you like that?
Umm, that's... That's kinda not cool, I'm going to have to walk with this punctured bike all the way into town and home again later.
So. My original enthusiasm was diminished somewhat after this little event. You could say my enthusiasm deflated like a punctured tyre.
I bought a puncture repair kit a few days (or a couple of weeks) later, took the back wheel off, patched over the hole in the tube. I checked the tube was sealed. It was! I put the back wheel back on.
I pumped up the tyre. All good. Squeezing the back tyre I thought "Nah, it could take more air than this!" I pumped more. And you guessed it...
KABLAM!!!! Pssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttttttt....
I pumped too much! The new patch ripped. The tube was dead. OK. Fuck this, I thought. Time to buy a new tube and while I'm at it, I'm going to buy a new back tyre. So I went to Mc Garvey's in the town, got a new tube and a brand new tyre for £10! Which is pretty damn cheap!
Several months later (yes, procrastination is a hell of a thing) I decided to try and fit the new tube and tyre onto the back wheel.
So tonight, I was working away. Got the new tyre and tube fitted pretty easily. I decided to tinker with the brakes: see if I could loosen them from rubbing against the back wheel. Bad idea! Fucked about with that for about an hour.
Eventually, I got the bike out the door and decided to take her for a wee spin around the block. It all seemed to be going well, until I tried to change gears....
CRACK!! CRACKLE!! KADINK! KADINK!! KADINK !!! ... Half a heart attack...
I look down. The gear sprockets have literally ripped right off the bike! The chain is tangled up around the pedals. The thing is a mangled mess!
And that was how I spent the evening after my third day of work at the new job. Now it's time for bed. 6 hours sleep. Then up to shower, make sandwiches and off to work I go again. But not on my bike. No.
It's another day ticket on the bus tomorrow morning and maybe I'll save my money for a decent bike in future.
You have my sympathies. are used to cycle a lot, and I remember how much money I used to spend if I ever went past the cycle shop. you can very easily spend hundreds of pounds. I ended up buying a 500 pound bike and 70 pound lock, after having a 900 pound bike stolen within half an hour because I used a 25 pound lock. if your bike is worth 900 pounds it will almost certainly be stolen within an hour. if it is worth 500 pounds but looks shabby and unclean it will not attract attention, and if the lock is the highest security it will not be targeted by bike thieves.
ReplyDeletewinter clothing is expensive, and rain proof clothing is by far the most expensive. light gets stolen. and good tires are expensive but reduce punctures to a minimum.
even when the bike is set up and his road worthy, it needs an annual check to make sure that the brakes will not fail and that it will not fall apart in traffic.
over where I live cycling can be extremely dangerous so a easily maneuverable bike can save your life if you need to avoid dangerous traffic quickly.
500 pounds will buy you a decent fast bike. a mountain bike frame with racing wheels are the fastest, but if there are lots of potholes a regular mountain bike with thicker tires is a more comfortable ride.
just make sure that it does not look valuable, because it will be stolen within one hour of being locked up in the city Center. the trick is to make it look like it is worth 100 or 200 pounds, and is somewhat the worse for wear.
so yes I identify with your exasperation, and I hope you find a nicer bike next time :)
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sirrus-2011-hybrid-bike-ec023871?query=2011
these are fast :)