Destruction Causes Dilemma

Alright, so this week I got some fun stuff to tell you. And by “fun” I mean horrible. As mentioned last time, this past weekend I was a volunteer for Bike for Beats. I wanted to show up bright and early for setup and marshalling, but I wanted to do it in a manner that meshed with the event. So I brought my bike up to my 9^th floor apartment and gave it a good load of TLC and adjustment.

When I first got this bike in 2003, the only “adjustment” I made, was to slightly angle the handlebars toward the right side. My left arm is a bit longer than my right, so for me to ride comfortable, the handlebars can’t be straight-on. That was all I did. I last night, after I fixed the stiff steering and greased up the cranks, chain, and wheels, I adjusted the height of the handlebars, and the height, angle and distance forward/back of the seat. I also put a bit more air into my ever-leaking tires.

While I had it up, I gave it a proper inspection. I’ve been meaning to do it thoroughly for a while. I finally replaced my helmet and cycling gloves (both circa 2003, new & old pictured left) this past Wednesday. One was a long-overdue safety issue, and the other was just falling apart. So I gave the bike the inspection to see what would need to be replaced, theoretically by next spring. The list wasn’t long, but it was worrisome: brake pads are thin, tires are starting to split, handle-bar grips are torn, bell is broken, pedals are chewed, chain and gears are a little rusty… Not quite enough there to warrant a new bike.

The chain, gears, pedals, and handle-bar grips, I could probably ignore without too much trouble. The brake pads are a quick and relatively inexpensive fix, so I mentally made note to pick up a pair of pads next time I was near a Kunstadt Sports (one of my local cycling stores). The tires were splitting. They weren’t all the way through yet, but I bit my lip and mentally planned to make a special trip to the bike shop on Tuesday, or after I got out from Bike for Beats on Saturday if there was time.

Saturday morning I got up, ate my Wheaties (not really), and hauled the bike back down to ground level. I hopped on and began cycling. The steering was still a little stiff, but better than when I had brought it up to the apartment. I felt really comfortable at my new height, and it seemed like my peddling was coming a lot easier and smoother than it did before I adjusted everything. Then I hit a pothole.

The front wheel spun a couple more times, but I felt it sink right away. I dismounted, tore off my helmet and inspected the tire. It was 100% flat. I cringed, hoped beyond all hope that the air had just been forced out or something simple like that. I put my hand-pump in, and pumped for a couple minutes. Nothing. Swearing, I made my way back home and hopped on a bus to Lebreton Flats so I could still help out.

I got back home this afternoon. The following photos show what happened next:

I think that third photo makes things clear enough. I’m not sure if you can make out the 2 holes, but the large one is huge enough to realize that there’s no holding air in that thing. The tube, tires, and bike itself have been poorly maintained, and have been used to travel well over 7000 km, so it really didn’t owe me anything. But as it stands, as of September 25^th, 2010, I am without a bicycle. I have no reliable, self-powered, environmentally friendly mode of transportation available to me. I have been emasculated.

Ok, maybe not emasculated, but you get the idea. I’ve basically got two options at this point. Buy a new tube, new tires, and reinstall it, leaving me with the same brake problem, stiff steering, broken bell, torn grips, chewed pedals, and rusty chain and gears. Replacing these parts would probably run me close to $60. Or I can buy a new bike, and get a proper road bike this time instead of a mountain bike. But that costs minimum $350. Here’s the problem, I have $0, and would like to spend less than that if possible (don’t we all?).

So here we are folks, How to Bargain Shop for bicycles. If you’re looking to work for it a bit, you can check out garage sales, craigslist.com, kijiji.ca, or freecycle.org. If you have a freecycle.org for your area, it will be a fantastic option as the price is FREE. The catch is that you may need to do a bit of work to fix it up. Garage sales, craigslist and kijiji are all good for finding stuff that people currently own, and are trying to get a bit of money back on. Sometimes this works out great for everyone involved, sometimes it doesn’t. Inspect the product before you hand over your cash, because you won’t get it back afterward.

Now here in Ottawa, we have a couple other options. There’s Re-Cylces Bicycle Co-op at 473 Bronson which resells bikes that were donated to the shop and fixed up. Two student favourites, because of the 10% discount, are Cyco’s at 5 Hawthorne Ave, and The Bike Dump at 407 Hawthorne Street. Cyco’s has used bikes starting around $80, and The Bike Dump starts around $30. Tim’s Used Sports Equipment on 1280 Wellington Street West has used bikes starting around $90, and Recyclore, a non-profit organization, located at 2675 Draper starts their pricing around $70.

So, I’m going to be hiking my way out to these places on Tuesday and Wednesday next week to see what I might be able to find. I’ll spend a bit of my precious student loan, and hope that I find myself a part-time job after all. I had actually managed to budget my way through the school year without a job, but it seems the fates just don’t want that to happen.

Anyhow, here’s my cycling log for this past week, sabotaged by a tube.

Sunday: I relaxed. Wished I had a cold, alcoholic beverage too! 0 km. 0 km/hr

Monday: Alta Vista/Industrial along Alta Vista to Heron, Heron to Navaho, Navaho to Algonquin College. Algonquin College to Navaho, Navaho to Baseline, Baseline to Alta Vista, Alta Vista to Alta Vista/Industrial. Total Time 1 hr 30 minutes. 26 km. 17.3 km/hr

Tuesday: Alta Vista/Industrial along Alta Vista to Heron, Heron to Bank. +Return Trip along same route. Time 25 minutes. 8.5 km. 20.4 km/hr

Wednesday: Threat of rain deterred biking to an interview, but managed 10 km of walking… 0 km. 0 km/hr.

Thursday: Alta Vista/Industrial along Alta Vista to Heron, Heron to Navaho, Navaho to Algonquin College. Algonquin College to Navaho, Navaho to Baseline, Baseline to Alta Vista, Alta Vista to Alta Vista/Industrial. Total Time 88 minutes. 26 km. 17.7 km/hr

Friday: Alta Vista/Industrial along Alta Vista to Heron, Heron to Navaho, Navaho to Algonquin College. Algonquin College to Navaho, Navaho to Baseline, Baseline to Alta Vista, Alta Vista to Alta Vista/Industrial. Time 80 minutes. 26 km. 19.5 km/hr

Saturday: Bike irreparably damaged mere blocks from home. – km. – km/hr.

Average Daily Distance: 12.4 km

Average Speed: 18.3 km/hr

Average Weekly Distance: 73.02 km

Average Cumulative Speed: 18.0 km/hr