After expressing an interest in possibly beginning cycling, my daughter’s boyfriend received an SC1800 as a gift from a family friend.  He knew my story and thought the bike might not be bad for piddling around town, commuting and the like.  He picked it up at Canadian Tire, cycled away, and had gone barely 100 yards before the cassette disintegrated.  The ring assembly slipped away from the core of the cassette (which remained attached to the rear wheel hub), spilling micro-ball-bearings all over the road.

He took it back to Canadian Tire,  who told him, “Sorry, you can’t return it if it’s broken… we’ll have to send it out for repairs.”

When I heard this, I was a bit angry.  The kid had barely taken three pedal strokes before the machine blew up!  Anyway, to save him the trouble of taking the thing back to Canadian Tire and conceivably being without bike for a month, I made the repair.  The remnant of the cassette was removed with an adjustable pair of pliers.  The hub was in good condition, as was the wheel.  I had a couple of spare cassettes of the right size sitting around, so I installed a new one and had him back on the road in less than 20 minutes.

Three things here.  First, if that had been me, and I’d come back and received that answer, there would have been a scene.  Let’s just say it might have gotten ugly.  I think my money would have been back in my pocket within a minute or two, or I’d be walking out with another bike at the very least.  They bullied my daughter’s boyfriend because he is a quiet guy and didn’t raise a fuss.  Second, to address this before it comes up in comments, if the bike had been bought at a Local Bike Shop, I’m not so sure they would have taken it back, but at least they’d have been able to make the repair on the spot and perhaps throw in some extra equipment for the inconvenience.  Third, despite my enjoyment of the cheapo SC1800, there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a department store bike, and the almost the cheapest one you can buy, at that.

And the moral of the story is, I guess… you get what you pay for.

No more duct tape for you, stupid odometer!

Bike feels ok.

It doesn’t look too bad after 3,800 Kilometers.   It still rides fairly quietly, the gears still change, the wheels still turn, and the brakes work.  There are a few rust spots where I’ve scraped up the frame, but nothing too bad.

The BOD has sat idle since late June as I started riding my Giant Boulder to work.  See the spider that made its home in the frame?  Nice spider.  It’s gone now.  Just like the Giant Boulder.

Here’s the dB2L odometer that has served me well.  This $11 purchase is resilient, lasted through deep winter and temperatures of -45 C, rain, and being stored outside.  It still works.  Its mounting bracket wasn’t so lucky, however, and is now assisted by a generous helping of duct tape.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call this the “trusty” rear derailer, but it’s a rear derailer of sorts.  It still changes the gears and seems to be holding up.  I’m concerned that it’s actually the gunk and dirt that’s holding it all together at this point, so I’ve been avoiding cleaning it lest it fall apart.

As you can see, the front derailer isn’t any cleaner than the rear derailer, but like its more complex cousin, still seems to work.

There are some rusts spots in unexpected places, like the screws holding the bike together.  When you store a bike out in the elements, that’s what happens.  Even the Boulder was showing such signs, though not as many as the Bike of Doom.  The is the shifter that fell apart last winter in the deep cold.  Turns out it was only the plastic casing that broke.  The insides, and the mounting bracket, are all metal, so it’s still serviceable.  I have not replaced it, as you can see.

And that’s it, a quick photo gallery of the Bike of Doom in its current state, 18 months old, 3,800 Km under its wheels, and more to start piling up.

I’ll strive to do weekly updates on the bike’s care and feeding.  Stay tuned.

Anyway, I’m back to riding The Bike of Doom, with a new appreciation of its usefulness.

Anyway, Kate has asked me to look for a used 10-speed or something similar to tune-up and let her ride, so that’s fine. I’ll do that. In the meantime, I’ll keep riding the blue beast of burden which is, at this writing, sitting at about 3,740 Km.

The bike is making some noise. Pedals are shot, I think. This is the original set of pedals that came with the bike. I had removed them once before, in a fit of pique, but put them back on a month later. Now it’s time to replace them permanently. The bike also needs a goog cleaning and lubrication. It’s shameful how neglectful I have become of the bike. Pictures, soon.

The BOD resides outside, by the way, in the fresh air, through sun and rain, as do most of the family’s bikes. I’m planning to build a bike shelter this summer, but I’m not holding my breath. Suggest you don’t, either.

“Dear Midge…” … The guy in that picture doesn’t look ANYTHING like me. Anyway, with apologies to Glamorous Romances, I think, circa 1949.

For most of the week I’ve been riding the Giant Boulder, my low-end LBS bike which is solid and reliable (haven’t had any problems over the course of the approximately 1,200 Km I’ve put on it since last year. However, the geometry of the Giant doesn’t suit me as well as the geometry of the Bike of Doom, so today I switched back to the Bike of Doom for commuting. It really made a difference. Despite the poor quality of nearly every component, I find it a very comfortable bike… even it’s cheap ass saddle.

I’m wondering if that’s because the manufacturer is Raleigh? Is it possible that my British body responds more favourably to British bike geometry? I may test ride a few Raleigh bikes at local bike stores to see if that’s true. I’ve been thinking of a new road bike…

Today, I took the SuperCycle out on a Sunday ride with Mike, Brian, and Bill. This is the first Sunday morning ride of the season, and although these will end up being mostly 80 to 100 Km rides as the season progresses, they are traditionally short at season start. Today, however, for reason’s I can’t quite fathom, we did almost 80 Km in a grueling ride into the wind, out to St. Adolphe. I was glad to get home and off the bike.

Mike wrote about it at Bike With Mike. There maybe a picture.

“Is it him…” with apologies, once again, to Glamorous Romances (Formerly Dotty} #41 (circa 1949)