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.
no subject
It's so interesting to learn the intricacies of how our bikes act, isn't it?
no subject
On the other hand, I bought a Dutch Workcycles bike so I wouldn't have to care, you know? Generally speaking, if anything goes wrong with Eleanor--which it hardly ever does--I take her in to Clever Cycles and let them fix it--just as I would take my car to the mechanic if I still had a car.
I'm a great believer in paying someone else, wherever it's remotely feasible, to do what I don't wanna do. And bending down to fix my heavy, heavy Dutch bike is something I don't wanna do. But today I have to, rain and all, because I really want to have my Eleanor back.