The Bike of Doom

I bought the $99 Canadian Tire SC1800 because I wanted to save my $1,000 Jamis Coda from the ignominious abuse of a daily commute. What I didn’t expect was that a year later, that cheap department store bike would be my favorite ride.

There are a number of reasons for this strange turn of events. Part of it is the daily commute. When you ride a bike every day, you begin to form a relationship. Don’t laugh. I got to know the SC1800 very well last year. If there were idiosyncrasies in its geometry, repeated exposure forced my body to accommodate. Think of that old pair of comfortable shoes. The SC1800 began to feel like a nice pair of warm slippers, or a favorite sweater with the elbows worn through.

Still, at $99, what can you expect from a bike? If you’ve been following this blog, you know the answer: a lot of repairs! The SC1800 did not disappoint. From the start it required adjustments, overhauls of this, that or the next thing, repeated truing of the rear wheel, and a whole lot of TLC. No surprise there. What is surprising, I suppose, is that I actually began to enjoy working on the bike. As I noticed things rattling loose or coming out of adjustment through the week, I would look forward to the weekend when I could pull out my tools and begin setting things right. Sometimes I’d even have to go and buy the tools I needed to do the job.

Despite the constant attention, the poor quality of some of the SC1800’s core parts meant that they could not always be repaired or adjusted. At 1,700 Km, I replaced the rear wheel, both tires, and swapped out the creaking bearings and spindle of the OEM bottom bracket and replaced it with a sealed unit purchased on eBay. This mammoth repair cost just a little more than the bike itself. Comments, emails, and even articles on other blogs pointed out that I was probably crazy for throwing good money after bad. They were probably right.

But I was hooked. The combined experience of riding, adjusting, repairing, upgrading and keeping the SC1800 in good running condition, then writing about it in this blog, made last year one of the most enjoyable seasons of cycling I’ve ever had.

A new season of cycling is about to start. In seasons past, now is the time I’d be thinking about calling my Local Bike Shop to get my bike in for a tune-up. This year, it’s a little different. I’ve kept the SC1800 in good running condition. It may need some adjustments, cleaning, lubrication, but nothing major. As for my Jamis road bike and my Giant mountain bike, I’ll be doing their spring tune ups myself. Working on the $99 department store bike has taught me a lot.

Knowing the SC1800, though, I’m sure there are many more repairs, adjustments, and surprises ahead. I hope you’ll stick around to read about them.

Related posts:

Can a bad bike kill an interest in cycling?

Other POS bikes on the road

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