More bike woes
Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lethargic_manSo I look at my bike this evening, and the derailleur doesn't seem to be bent. But it is loose on its mounting. So I got out my allan key and tried tightening it, and the bolt just turns round forever: the screw thread on the frame has worn out. (Or possibly been destroyed through my actions yesterday.)
Still, at least the thing's still usable, huh? Huh? Well, not any more. :-(
I'm not sure at what point I buggered it up, or whether indeed it buggered itself up, but now I can't get the derailleur to move to the top end of gear cassette, or indeed to stay anywhere without risk of pivoting into the spokes. I tried fiddling with all three adjuster screws (the ones the guy at the bike shop told me not to try adjusting unless I knew what I was doing, though I'm sure my father showed me how to adjust them once before), and no position of any of them made any difference to the derailleur's position at either end of its range. I'm absolutely baffled by this, but unfortunately it looks like the upshot is that I don't have a workable bike.
My father bet my mother when they got married that he could keep their washing machine going for twenty-five years. In the end, he gave up after twenty-one, as the thing was constantly in need of repair. Well, my bike is also twenty-one years old (it's the best value for money birthday present I ever received), and, despite having paid the best part of two hundred pounds on it already this year, I'm beginning to think (at the prompting of my father and my brother) that maybe it's time to bite the bullet and get a new bike. Even if it does turn out to be reparable, I'm getting to be suspicious now of how long it's going to be before the next part wears out.
Which leaves the question of how I go about getting a new bike. Do I buy now in London, for significantly more than I would pay in Newcastle? Or do I wait three weeks until the next time I'm in Newcastle, and get a bike in (appropriately enough) Byker? In which case (a) it's cheaper, but I'm screwed if I ever need to take it back to the shop, and (b) what do I do in the meantime*?
* I use my bike all the time; I'd be almost as hobbled without it as I would be with a broken leg. It takes as little as 30 minutes to cycle to work in the downhill direction, as against fifty to (more commonly) sixty by Tube; hence I only take the Tube twice a week; and I use my bike all the time for local transport. Also, I don't like to go more than a couple of weeks without cycling, as my muscles start atrophying and, whilst I am physically capable of cycling to work after a break, it really knackers me and I'll spend the next week too exhausted in the evening to do anything.
Still, at least the thing's still usable, huh? Huh? Well, not any more. :-(
I'm not sure at what point I buggered it up, or whether indeed it buggered itself up, but now I can't get the derailleur to move to the top end of gear cassette, or indeed to stay anywhere without risk of pivoting into the spokes. I tried fiddling with all three adjuster screws (the ones the guy at the bike shop told me not to try adjusting unless I knew what I was doing, though I'm sure my father showed me how to adjust them once before), and no position of any of them made any difference to the derailleur's position at either end of its range. I'm absolutely baffled by this, but unfortunately it looks like the upshot is that I don't have a workable bike.
My father bet my mother when they got married that he could keep their washing machine going for twenty-five years. In the end, he gave up after twenty-one, as the thing was constantly in need of repair. Well, my bike is also twenty-one years old (it's the best value for money birthday present I ever received), and, despite having paid the best part of two hundred pounds on it already this year, I'm beginning to think (at the prompting of my father and my brother) that maybe it's time to bite the bullet and get a new bike. Even if it does turn out to be reparable, I'm getting to be suspicious now of how long it's going to be before the next part wears out.
Which leaves the question of how I go about getting a new bike. Do I buy now in London, for significantly more than I would pay in Newcastle? Or do I wait three weeks until the next time I'm in Newcastle, and get a bike in (appropriately enough) Byker? In which case (a) it's cheaper, but I'm screwed if I ever need to take it back to the shop, and (b) what do I do in the meantime*?
* I use my bike all the time; I'd be almost as hobbled without it as I would be with a broken leg. It takes as little as 30 minutes to cycle to work in the downhill direction, as against fifty to (more commonly) sixty by Tube; hence I only take the Tube twice a week; and I use my bike all the time for local transport. Also, I don't like to go more than a couple of weeks without cycling, as my muscles start atrophying and, whilst I am physically capable of cycling to work after a break, it really knackers me and I'll spend the next week too exhausted in the evening to do anything.
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 08:10 pm (UTC)How much is the difference between the bike you want now and in Newcastle? Would it be worth buying a £50 bike (second hand or special offer) to bridge the gap?
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 08:28 pm (UTC)Could you put a figure on that point? I've done seven thousand miles (ish) on the bike since I came to London six years ago; previously it didn't get used much and only had 1500 miles on the clock. Does that sound like reasonable usage to you?
How much is the difference between the bike you want now and in Newcastle?
Don't know yet. My father says he's going to investigate a shop in Byker (Hardesty Cycles presumably; I got a secondhand bike there once before).
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 08:59 pm (UTC)It sounds like time to buy a new bike ;-) Mine - which was lower mid-range when I bought it - did about fifty miles a week most weeks for four or five years, and at the end was well and truly knackered. At that point, I'd wrecked the gears (which was a more robust system than yours - the F&S internal which is, when you're not coping with hills, pretty adequate), and replaced most moving parts.
I learnt the less of you can't repair it indefinitely (well, can't _afford_ to) with my last car, which had also reached that point.
In your place, I'd go out and investigate bikes right now. You're part of the working population, so I assume that you can afford a decent bike, it might be worth the hassle. Also, what about guarantees and repairs? You're not going to go to Newcastle every time you need your bike seeing to, are you? That might offset the difference somewhat.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 09:06 pm (UTC)Fair enough. It was new when you bought it, I presume.
At that point, I'd wrecked the gears (which was a more robust system than yours - the F&S internal which is, when you're not coping with hills, pretty adequate), and replaced most moving parts.
I've already replaced the derailleur twice this year, and the range wheels and chain! (I've also previously replaced both wheels and the rear brakes.)
In your place, I'd go out and investigate bikes right now. You're part of the working population, so I assume that you can afford a decent bike, it might be worth the hassle.
Well yes, I can afford to, but it's expense I can do without given (a) the expense of repairing it already this year, and (b) my upcoming double- or secondary-glazing of my flat. OTOH if I've got to spend it, I've got to spend it.
Also, what about guarantees and repairs? You're not going to go to Newcastle every time you need your bike seeing to, are you? That might offset the difference somewhat.
Depends on the severity of the problem. Hopefully a new bike won't need seeing to in its warranty period. If the price differential is significantly cheaper than a ticket to Newcastle, it might possibly be worth it.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-26 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-27 09:48 pm (UTC)I'd much rather have had my car broken then my foot.