Last ride, last post — 3,204 Km
by Steve ~ November 16th, 2007. Filed under: Riding the Bike.This will be be my final entry of the year.
I took what is likely my last ride of the season today, my work commute, slightly longer than usual, pushing my Bike of Doom odometer to just over 3,200 Km and my overall season odometer to just over 6,000 Km. Check out my ridelog for details.
The Bike of Doom — a well deserved rest
I could keep riding without any problems, but I find it’s not enough exercise through the winter months. Cycling 14 km a day takes a little over half an hour. It’s too cold for recreational rides, which means the commute is the only exercise I get. Walking, I get almost 90 minutes of brisk exercise every day in the commute alone, then another 30 minutes of other walking at lunch time.
The Bike of Doom will be hung up for the winter. I will ride the bike again in the spring, of course, when I start bicycle commuting. You can check my first posts in this blog to see what that’s like. I don’t expect I’ll be continuing with the blog. It’s been fun, but it’s just repetitive now. The bike works, regular maintenance will keep it working. At this point, I don’t see any need for major repairs, and expect the BOD to keep rolling until it rusts away.
All in all, I think the SuperCycle SC1800 18 Speed mountain bike was an exceptional investment, and probably the best $99 (plus $140 in repairs) I’ve ever spent. More than just a vehicle, it allowed me to learn how to repair and maintain a bike, without putting my good bikes at risk. Should you buy one, or a similar bike, for yourself? You’ll have to make that decisions yourself. I think it depends on how much work you’re willing to put into maintaining the bike, and what you expect to get out of it. Read this blog for some insight, or check out the other blogs I’m going to mention at the end of this post.
Thanks to everybody who visited the site to find out how my cheapo department store bike was doing. I was surprised to find out how many people were interested in the experiment. That said, I’m not the only one doing this kind of thing. For those who still need a fix of watching somebody riding a cheapo bike, please check out these other fine blogs and Websites:
Adios,
Steve
Related posts:
The Bicycle Tutor - Free video advice on fixing your bike
November 16th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
i’m sad that i heard about The Bike of Doom so late in the game. that said, great to read about your experiences, and hope you pick it up in the spring. cheers, mb
November 16th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
I’ve been following the Bike of Doom through all its adventures and must say I enjoyed your blog. I’m going to try to push on through winter but I’m retired and can pretty well pick my routes and times so as to avoid the really crappy stuff. I’m going to do it on an SC1800 that’s had most of the really rotten parts replaced with some less-rotten bits from my junk box. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes the Ontario winter and the roads dept to dissolve the SC1800. At least I won’t have to contend with the famous Winnipeg winter temps!
November 17th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Sorry to see you close up shop although I guess it makes sense. Thanks for the blog and the advice.
November 18th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I too discovered your blog later than I would have liked. Thanks for sharing your experience, from a fellow POS commuter.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:48 am
I’ll try to catch up to you before xmas - I’m up to 2283km now, and I’ve got 700+km scheduled between now and Dec 3.
It’s 30 degrees C today, and looks like being a scorcher all the way through until Feb/March. I’ll be thinking of you! ;-)
BTH
November 21st, 2007 at 4:48 am
Thanks for everything.
http://urbainxavieronabike.blogspot.com/2007/11/extraordinary.html
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:28 am
Can you keep the blog up and running and just post very very occasionally? You know, if you need to replace anything major, and the mileage every couple of months?
Whatever you do, thanks.
December 8th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Do you have a summary somewhere of what your repairs were and when they occurred?
I was thinking about doing this experiment myself, so thanks for doing the work for me!
December 8th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Check under “Repair Log” in the left sidebar. The SC1800;s two problem areas for me were the bottom bracket and the rear wheel. I replaced a number of broken spokes and trued the wheel four or five times. Finally, I replaced it with a better wheel. I also swapped out the bottom bracket for a sealed unit. Since those two repairs, the bike has performed flawlessly. I don’t think I’ve done a single repair since then,
December 11th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Indeed, congratulations, your attention to detail in documentation is superb!
Enjoyed reading this chapter so much already looking forward to next chapter of 2008….