The Bike of Doom

When I bought my $99 department store bike, I thought of it as an experiment. I know these things are reviled by cyclists, just as department store telescopes are reviled by amateur astronomers. I also know, as an amateur astronomer who has built his own telescope, that sometimes department store telescopes are just fine… depending on what you use them for. Could the same thing be true for department store bikes?

I already own two reasonably good bikes, a Jamis Coda I use for recreational road rides, and a Giant Boulder I use for slightly rougher rides. My good bikes have suffered when I’ve used them for commuting, suffered so much that I have started to walk more than ride for my commute. To make matters worse, the company I work for moved to a new building, and now I can’t take my bike into my office to park. I’d have to park it outside. I’ve seen enough empty or broken locks attached to posts to feel a little worried about leaving my good bikes unattended.

But what if I owned a bike I didn’t really care much about? A disposable bike in a way. Something I could run into the ground, and not get upset about when it was stolen, that I could replace every season reasonably cheaply, if I wanted… cheaper than replacing one of the wheels on my good bikes?

So, I bought the Bike of Doom. This blog is about my adventures in commuting, riding a $99 department store bike. If you ride a similar bike, I’d love to hear your stories, too.