The Bike of Doom

It’s a year to the day that I bought the SuperCycle 1800 18 Speed Mountain Bike from Canadian Tire. I wrote the first post in this blog on March 14 last year, took the bike on the road for the first time on March 16. My expectations for the bike were low. I was hoping I’d get through a single season of commuting (about 2,000 Km). Instead, the bike has reached 3,500 Km and shows no signs of dying. Yet.

As you’ll recall, or see if you check the repair log, I replaced the rear wheel halfway through the season, replaced the tires, replaced the brake pads once, and upgraded the bottom bracket to a sealed unit. Total cost of repairs was about $133. That’s 33% more than the bike cost, bringing the total expense for running the Bike of Doom for a year to about $233. On the bright side, I don’t foresee making more than simple maintenance fixes in the coming year: brake pads, perhaps a new chain.

For what it’s worth, I performed a thorough inspection of the bike this morning, and here are the results of the Bike of Doom One Year Inspection:

Drive train: filthy, a bit rusty. This is due to the winter cycling. Snow clings, sits overnight. Recently, the roads have been slushy and salty. I have noticed the chain rattling a bit, and this morning saw that it was stiff and rusted in places. I cleaned it thoroughly and oiled it. I just don’t have time to look after it more than once every couple of weeks, so this kind of wear and tear is par for the course. I expect the chain is also stretched and needs replacing, but I’m going to try to get through to early summer before making that change.

Brakes: pads look okay, about 2 months left on the rear, I’d say, maybe four on the front. I’ll keep an eye on them and will replace them before it’s necessary. Peace of mind is worth a lot. Brake cables look okay. I adjusted both the front and rear cables this morning, tightening them a bit, and they feel good. The V-Brakes on the BOD are extremely low end, but seem to be holding up. I don’t do rough riding on the bike, so I expect they’ll last another season.

Tires: The specialized Crossroads are holding up exceptionally well. I highly recommend this tire if you’re looking for something tough, but don’t need Armadillo Kevlar protection. Nice grip, but a solid bead make them quite efficient for commuting, even on a tank like the Bike of Doom. They can be inflated to fairly high pressure, too, which makes them nice for longer rides.

Derailleurs: Not much to say about these pieces of junk. They do the job, but not particularly well. I don’t really change gears when I’m commuting, anyway, so no biggie. The rear shifter broke during a very cold snap, and needs replacing. I plan on making a trip to Canadian Tire today to pick one up, or order one. Best I can do for these derailleurs is keep them clean, well lubricated, and reasonably well adjusted.

Wheels: The OEM front wheel is in great shape. It doesn’t take the brunt of my weight, and I tend to ride fairly carefully. Not even a hint of a wobble after 3,500 Km. The rear replacement wheel, which could justifiably complain of being abused, is also doing well. I have replaced one spoke in 1,800 Km. Both wheels are currently true and rolling nicely. I tweaked the spoke tension on the rear wheel this morning, but otherwise all is well.

Handlebars and headset: Fine, as far as I can tell. The handlebars seem solid, no wobble in the headset. This may not mean much, though. I was riding with my pal Mike a couple of years back and, as we were crossing a busy highway, his handlebars snapped in half. This was on a reasonably good bike. It happens. I keep an eye out for metal fatigue or weakness since then, and haven’t noticed anything.

Frame: I’ve noticed a few nicks in the paint, some rust spots. If you’ll recall, the bike stand bracket rusted and fell off a thousand Km ago, or so. I notice a touch of rust around the bottom bracket, the welds where the chainstays join the bottom bracket, and around the BB shell. At the moment, it doesn’t look serious. I may clean away the rust and paint with Tremclad or something like that. I have heard of these frames literally rusting to pieces, so it’s something I expect, and I’ve already got the bike into overtime, so it won’t shock me when it happens.

There you have it. One year later, color me surprised that the Bike of Doom is still on the road. I’m going to try to keep it on the road for another season, without upgrading parts. And let’s be brutally honest here: without upgrades, the bike would have been toast back in August of 2007, about six months after purchase, or 1,700 Km. If a normal cyclist owned it, and put on the Km I’ve put on, I expect it would have been junked after 500 Km. So, as always, take my disclaimer to heart: unless you’re willing to put in the time and money to keep one of these things roadworthy, don’t buy one!

Happy Birthday, Bike of Doom!

Related posts:

Commuting on a cheap bike

3,000 Km inspection

500 Km tune-up - the bike rolls on