The rear wheel has been taking a punishment because of my route to work. Since the river levels fell the River Walk has cleared. I like the route, but it’s pretty rough right now. Add in my 200 plus pounds of handsome manliness and spokes start screaming. Well, pinging, anyway. […]
I realize I am sounding a lot less like the calm, composed, hobbyist test-rider that I was only a few short days ago. The reason for that is that I made another attempt to remove the bottom bracket fixed cup this evening. After an hour of heaving, torquing, yelling and sweating, it had […]
I sit here, a defeated man, brought low by the fixed cup on the SuperCycle SC1800’s bottom bracket. Yes, I read the instructions. Yes, I saw the warnings along the lines of “The fixed cup will be very, very, very tight.” Admittedly I ignored the suggestions to “take it into a […]
The endurable and enduring SC1800 continues to provide exemplary service as a beast of burden, carrying me hither and yon with nary a complaint. The wheel I trued 400 Km ago (a few weeks back) remains true. In fact, the wheels seem to have stabilized, settled into their stresses and strains and are […]
What tools do you need to keep your cheap-as-borscht Canadian Tire SuperCycle SC1800 bicycle in tip-top condition? I’m glad you asked!I’ve put together a static page that lists the tools I use to work on my SC1800. I bought these as I needed them, not all at once. How you acquire yours […]
New brake pads on the Bike of Doom
The front brakes on the SC1800 failed in a breathtaking manner a week ago as I came to a stop at a red light and found myself continuing to roll into traffic. Luckily, I had rear brakes, and those still worked. Today, the rear brakes suddenly lost their […]
Girl (red) and boy (blue) SuperCycle SC1800 Mountain Bikes.
Here’s a nice picture of girl and boy SyperCycle SC1800s, relaxing together in Toronto. This picture was taken by Samantha Jewett, a Toronto cyclist. I think the red bike is hers, just before it was stolen. And no wonder it was stolen! Look how clean and shiny […]
The purpose of this experiment is to see how long a bottom-of-the-line Department Store Bike will last in everyday riding conditions. I also want to learn how to do bike maintenance and repair. How much mileage can you put on a cheap bike if you actually take care of it?
A few years ago […]
Thanks to Bike With Mike, the SC1800 is no longer rolling on its cheap factory rubber, but on the used rubber (that doesn’t sound right, does it?) from a nearly decade old Raleigh Rocky. The donated tires were not new, they show some wear, but they are definitely of higher quality than the tires […]
Closeup on torn lip of tire. It had been feeling wobbly for some time.
I cycled with Megan and Robert to Assiniboine Park last night to watch the Canada Day fireworks (which were canceled due to thunderstorms), and had a loud and hissing flat as we approached the park. I wasn’t worried. I’m […]
