The Bike of Doom

As I cycled home on Wednesday, I took my usual route on the River Walk to get under the Osborne Street bridge. I saw a puddle ahead and decided on my usual approach: pick up speed, lift feet of pedals, blast through. In this case, I underestimated the depth of the “puddle”. It was actually a Fjord. The water came up above the bottom bracket and submerged the full drive train. The bike almost came to a complete stop. Only the rush of air expelled by my scream kept me in the saddle as the bike creaked out the other side… equal and opposite reaction and all that.

Worse, within 60 seconds, I could tell the bottom bracket wasn’t right. Water had seeped in. It was creaking and clunking. So, today, two days later, I overhauled it again, cleaned it out, re-greased the bearings, and put it all back together. This time, the whole job took about 20 minutes.

Other than that, the SC1800 is working well. The wheels are (for the most part) true. I’ve learned that as far as the Bike of Doom is concerned, the “just good enough” repair will have to do. Perfection is out of reach.

I’m learning to live with that.

Related posts:

1,600 Km (1,000 Miles) - SuperCycle SC1800 repair record

1275 Km - good tires make for good cycling

The man I marry … The Awful Bike of Doom