The Bike of Doom

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 replaced three after a particularly rough ride on Saturday, then spent some time today refining the truing job, ensuring none were too loose or too tight. Hope I’ve nailed it for awhile. Not that I mind wheel work. I find it quite relaxing and rewarding, particularly after the frustration of attempting to remove the fixed cup on the bottom bracket. Enough of that.

I am reasonably happy with the SC1800’s performance. It gets me where I’m going, if not in style then at least in one piece. I’m not really expecting more than that. My daily commute has increased in distance to about 24 Km per day (15 miles), which will give me about 120 Km per week (75 miles). The clicks should begin to add up.

I’ve had a couple of pangs of guilt when I wonder if some readers are taking away the message that I am recommending that they go out and buy themselves a department store bike instead of a bike from a Local Bike Shop. Nothing is farther from the truth. I do think Department Store Bikes have their place, just as Department Store Telescopes have theirs. I do think if you already own one, you can make the most of it. That doesn’t mean they’re for everybody. I’ll touch on this more in a coming post.

Until then, thanks for visiting, and good riding.

Related posts:

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

Repairs complete, Bike of Doom road-worthy again

Repair limit for a Department Store Bike