darkemeralds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
darkemeralds) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bicycles2011-11-26 08:20 pm
darkemeralds) wrote in bicycles2011-11-26 08:20 pm
Entry tags:
This is when I'm glad I have a second bike
I hardly ever ride Clyde, my Globe Specialized Carmel hybrid, anymore. It's a fun ride, but inconvenient for commuting (lights need batteries, rear fender doesn't prevent road spatter, rack doesn't hold much, greasy chain has no guard...). I prefer Eleanor O, my Dutch Workcycles Omafiets, for everyday use.
But I was very glad of Clyde when, a couple of weekends ago, I managed to break one tiny little part on Eleanor.
The part was the tensioning bolt in the Brooks saddle. It's a small part with a big job: to lengthen the saddle frame just a hair at a time as the saddle leather begins to stretch, and, incidentally, to fix the saddle onto its undersprings--i.e., to keep it on the bike. I...might have overdone the tensioning just a bit, and snap went the bolt.
I had to order a replacement from SJS Cycles in Bridgwater, Somerset, UK (about 6000 miles from home for me) because nobody in the US seems to carry it. It cost a whopping five bucks, I think, and three times for shipping it.
Cheaper than a new Brooks saddle, but I've really missed riding my sturdy, reliable, no-fuss Oma.
The part came today, so I hope to be back in the saddle tomorrow, and good old Clyde can return to collecting spiderwebs on the front porch.
But I was very glad of Clyde when, a couple of weekends ago, I managed to break one tiny little part on Eleanor.
The part was the tensioning bolt in the Brooks saddle. It's a small part with a big job: to lengthen the saddle frame just a hair at a time as the saddle leather begins to stretch, and, incidentally, to fix the saddle onto its undersprings--i.e., to keep it on the bike. I...might have overdone the tensioning just a bit, and snap went the bolt.
I had to order a replacement from SJS Cycles in Bridgwater, Somerset, UK (about 6000 miles from home for me) because nobody in the US seems to carry it. It cost a whopping five bucks, I think, and three times for shipping it.
Cheaper than a new Brooks saddle, but I've really missed riding my sturdy, reliable, no-fuss Oma.
The part came today, so I hope to be back in the saddle tomorrow, and good old Clyde can return to collecting spiderwebs on the front porch.