Cycled to destruction
This is what happens to a bike when you ride in excess of 8000 miles on it over at least 7 years. This happened shortly after my birthday towards the back end of February. I was cycling at the time and the fork half snapped, only the horseshoe shaped V-brake assembly and front wheel axle was holding it together. It wobbled all over the place, especially when braking as the wheel wasn’t true and the braking was uneven.
Over 7 years of rain, 8000 miles of pounding, hard braking and all sorts of abuse did this. It lasted through 6 London to Southend bike rides so helped me raise lots of cash for charity. The bike served me very well, although over the years, I had put on it 3 new front wheels, 4 new rear wheels, about 8 tyres, an entire replacement drive train (including rear gear derailleur, chain, cranks, front and back sprocket sets), new gear shifters, at least 10 pairs of brake blocks, 5 rear axles and associated bearings, 4 new gear cables, 2 new brake cables (including outer sheathing), countless inner tubes, new saddle, seat post, 4 sets of handlebar grips, 3 sets of V brakes arms, and god knows how many lights, speedometers etc…. but when you have a catastrophic frame failure like this, its time for a new bike.
I now have a GT Avalanche 1.0, 27 gears, front suspension, twin dual-cyclinder hydraulic disc brakes (which are the sharpest brakes on the planet), suspension saddle post and a heavy duty pannier rack for carrying all my shiz. All on this on the Warwick Cycle Scheme which I highly recommend to any Warwick Staff member.
Sounds like the frame was the only bit that hadn’t been replaced…
It’s certainly held together well through all that punishment.
29 Apr 2008, 01:05
The second paragraph reminds me of an Only Fools and Horses scene:
Trigger: And that’s what I’ve done. Maintained it for 20 years. This old broom’s had 17 new heads and 14 new handles in its time.
23 May 2008, 12:28
Add a comment
You are not allowed to comment on this entry as it has restricted commenting permissions.