Three weeks makes a big difference in the Spring.  The snow is gone.  The SC1800’s bonds literally melted away.  I brought it inside and gave it a little TLC.  Brakes and derailers needed a little work.  The BOD has been parked outside for over two full years, 50% of that time covered in snow, or frozen in ice.  It responded remarkably well to some lubrication and adjustment.  Both tires needed air.  Note that the odometer is still working.  That’s some kind of miracle.  Temperatures were in the minus 40 range for about a month this winter, and the last.  I can’t believe the tiny little battery in the odometer still has juice in it.

This year’s first ride was practical.  I mapped out a route to school.  23 Km round trip.  I’ll start doing that on Monday.  Felt good to be back on the bod.  Took a couple of pics.  This is Omand’s Creek, at the point I crossed every day on my old commute.  Spring flooding has left the bridge underwater.   The river walkway is completely submerged.  Don’t know when that will appear.  But I worked out a reasonably nice route along Wolesley, across the Assiniboine River, down Wellington Crescent, over the Maryland Bridge, through The Gates, along Westminster, across Osborne, down Assinniboine, through the Forks, down Riverside Drive, then into the Exchange District where the UW off-campus building is located.  Should take me about 30 minutes each way, without sweating too much.

As recent posts may have led you to believe, I’m working through the urge to put the SC-1800 back on the road.  The big problem at this point is the icy tomb in which it is encased.   The hardened steel Master Lock with massive chain is just one of the barriers to beginning this cycling season.  The lock is frozen.  After three days of efforts to open it, I finally caved and squirted a generous dose of WD40 into the keyhole.  Half an hour later, with some strong language encouragement, it finally popped.

Unfortunately, the covering of snow you can see in the photos in the last post is only camouflage for the deeper, harder, apparently impenetrable layer of ice in which the bike’s wheels are currently embedded.

Enough for one day.  Tomorrow, the shovel comes out.

The Bike of Doom has been resting for some time now. Some might consider this an ignominious fate for such a worthy beast, others might relish the thought of a well deserved plague of rust. You know who you are. In any event, cycling season has not yet arrived in Winnipeg. These photos were taken this morning.

Interesting note: the odometer is working! The bike has been stored outside for two years, in all weather, including a reasonably long stretch of near -40 temperatures this winter, and the cheap $8 odometer is still working.

This could be a sign of the apocalypse.

8<============

Steve,

Shane

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 gear assembly slipped away from the core of the cassette (which remained attached to the rear wheel hub), spilling micro-steel-balls 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.