On the Road again - Part 6

On the Road (and off the road) and back on the road again!

The new bike arrived on the expected date. The absolutely HUGE box with the bike parts in it was sat in our dining room ready for me to build my trusty steed v2. Putting it together didn't take too long. I'm getting quite experienced at doing this now, so it only took around an hour to build.

I discovered the problems pretty quickly. First, the gears weren't set up correctly. This isn't that unusual - I've often had to "tweak" the gears to get them right with a new bike. These, however, were well out. The front gears were nearly impossible to change, the back ones were sticky, to say the least. More worrying was that the front wheel was slightly warped - giving it a distinct wobble when riding.

At this point I decided that rather than playing around with it myself I'd take it to a bike shop to make sure it was set up correctly. Twenty four hours, a couple of phone calls and £20 later and I had a fully functioning and safety tested bike with a straight front wheel. Or so I thought.

I hadn't ridden the bike too far, in fact I'd only done around six or seven miles over the following couple of days when something unexpected happened - the left crank fell off whilst I was riding to work. Luckily I was able to keep control and not fall into the oncoming traffic, but as accidents go this could easily have been very nasty.

Once I'd got my breath (and the crank arm) back I found that the nut that holds the crank onto the crank shaft had fallen off. Some safety check that turned out to be! I free-wheeled the bike home and walked to work - feeling a certain amount of animosity to bike engineers in general.

On my way home I managed to find the missing nut, so I was able to re-attach the crank before walking the bike back to the shop to have a gentle word or two about the quality of their service.

Luckily they were most apologetic (them: "that shouldn't have happened, we're very particular about checking that sort of thing", me: "no kidding!") and took the bike back in for another go. They were as good as their word and the bike was back in my hands within three hours - with the crank securely attached. At least I hope it is securely attached.

It's going to be a while before I can put my trust back in this bike.

Buying a bike from a catalogue can be a bit hit-and-miss. I've bought a couple this way and this is the first time that I've really had any problems. Paying a proper bike shop to safety check and tweak your build is a good idea, as long as you can be sure that they have actually checked everything properly. You might need to be prepared to re-check everything yourself, just in case.

I'll leave the last word to the bike shop, as the assistant said to me as I was pushing the bike out to take it home. "This is why we don't sell this kind of bike."

On the Road Again - Part 5

There is a kind of bitter sweet element to this post. Originally it was intended to mark the one-year anniversary of my return to cycling - with a short update on general health, fitness, weight loss etc.

Unfortunately (as mentioned in my previous post) the biggest weight loss was the loss of my bike - now relegated to memory and a "crime reference number."

In a strangely ironic twist, my replacement bike should arrive on the one-year anniversary of my buying the original. Sadly I did need to spend a little over the £50 mark this time (the cheapeast budget bike I could get in a hurry was £139). This gives me an 18 speed, rigid frame mountain bike with front suspension.

The bike itself is a Townsend "Dark Mesa" mountain bike. Cheap (relatively speaking) but should get me to work on time. As I've recently been playing Half-Life 2 (XBox 360 Orange Box release) this has raised a smile. I may have to see if I can get a Black Mesa logo onto the frame somewhere. . .

Getting back on topic, my weight has stayed contant at 12 stone (as said before, down from 13.5 stone) and I'm feeling fitter than I have done in years. I don't really get out of breath on the ride to and from work (unless I REALLY push myself) and can comfortably make the journey in five minutes (traffic allowing, and yes, that's even including the hill on the way back).

After doing some rough-and-ready calculations I've cycled over 1000 miles in the last year (more or less) and I've developed some nice muscles where once was flab.

Speaking of flab, my "love handles" vanished at some point over the last six months. No idea when, but they've gone.

So overall (and without harping on about the loss of my bike too much) it's been a good year for my health and fitness, has given me more time at home, and has also given me some quality time going out on rides with my daughter.

So for anyone who may be considering getting a bicycle, I can honestly say I'd recommend it without reservation. Just make sure you keep it in a safe place.

Thieving gits.

Off the road (for a bit)

Well, thanks to the twat that stole my mountain bike from outside my house last night I'm now a pedestrian again.

I'd claim on insurance, but by the time I've paid my excess it's just not worth it. I have, of course, reported it to the police and got a crime incident number, but let's be honest here - the chances of me actually getting the bike back again are somewhere between slim and none.

Ho-hum.

My bike - July 21st 2008 - July 14th 2009. R.I.P. (Rust In Pieces).

Small update: Out of sheer bloody-mindedness I checked with my insurers about claiming for the bike and found out the following:

I'm not covered for it.

Yes folks, pedal cycles (as they quaintly put it in the small print) are not covered by the homes and contents insurance. So if you do own a bike and imagine that your home insurance covers it you might want to double-check with them BEFORE it goes walkies.