AllRoadsNowLeadToObsolescence
ComponentVille
I've had my new bike for a couple of months now.
And I'm not far from the 1000 km mark.
Which makes sense because the ride to and from work is ~25 km, and I try to ride 4 to 5 times a week.
Anyway, over the last week or so I've noticed the tell-tale snap-crackle-and-pop in the pedals that has gotten steadily worse and led to an outright wobble going up the hill this morning.
So I stopped in at the bike store on the way home.
No warranty there - I've worn things out because, to use the bike guy's technical explanation I, "like ride a lot, dude".
And, besides, that's just the way it is with factory pedals.
Because they are just fine as long as you don't actually, you know, ride.
Or some such baloney.
Anyway, the upshot was that I bought new ones.
Pedals, I mean.
But, just to be absolutely clear here, I put my foot down and insisted that the bike guy put them on for me, on the spot, so that I could ride home crinkle- and grind-free.
Tough guy, I am.
Sheesh.
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BTW....The cherished VW (notso)Microbus, which I have been driving way less because I have been riding more, is nearing the end of it's long and well-lived 27 year life...We will be holding a wake when our good friends F. and L. come north to Lotusland to celebrate Memorial Day next weekend...There will be much singing and telling of stories....Especially those involving UFO's over Lake Ozette while camping....More on that later...
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5 comments:
"Because they are just fine as long as you don't actually, you know, ride."
too true.
I guess if you only work at UBC (rather than own it or something) you probably can't afford to live with a family much closer to it than 12 1/2 km. I consider myself fortunate because when I went to UCSB, when it was still a small school, back in the mists of time, I could afford to live not only right next to campus, walking distance from class, but on the beach as well. In Vancouver one University is up on a mountain and the other is surrounded by an enclave of the 1% so most students must have to do lots of commuting. In the eighties when I lived in East Van, my neighborhood was full of students who spent half their lives on buses.
BTW, I'm proud of you for riding that far that often, I hope you have a pleasant route to choose (w/o too much car action etc.) Your bod will thank you for keeping it working when you get to my age most likely also.
Really hard robot tests tonight, I have to keep taking it over.
It blows my mind how few things are sold to us that can actually be "used" for a brief period before wearing out. And how surprised salespeople sound when we get annoyed that they've broken already....throw away society....
Koot--
I have absolutely no complaints - I have a job that, for the most part, I really, really enjoy that pays very well. All of which means that we could actually afford to buy a house in Vancouver....It's in the near Eastern Townships, sure, but we are much luckier than so many others.
Re: The riding itself...Have done quite a bit of it in the past, but I got soft the last couple of years because of a temporary admin assignment (that stretched on almost that long after they told me it would be be two, three months tops) which meant that I had to be here at pseudo-clinician times in the morning a lot. Anyway, the ride now is pretty nice - I only take one short stretch on a busy street just because of time - all the rest is pretty much all on bike routes which are pretty good in Vancouver now (at least compared to the old days)....There is, of course, the 'hill' up onto Pt Grey, but even that is nothing compared to what I used to ride as a post-doc.... Strawberry Canyon.
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cheryl--
It's true.
The bike I bought is not some super expensive one....But it was not cheap either...Part of the reason I bought it was because the components are supposed to be better than most - and other the other stuff on it is better than the last couple of bikes I've had (and the folks at the shop have been good so far too, because I've fussed a bit with them getting things just right) - science geeks are like that, I think, given that we are all obsessives at some level.
I'm not up on pedal life expectancy but it may well be that 1000km is considered good considering lightness of weight. They may even have been made here, we have some excellent bicycle part manufacturers locally. If it is not considered good life and was not made here I must re-inforce my belief that if you cannot build something that lasts 18 years then don't unload it from the ship. We can build it here just fine by ourselves thank-you. "They" are keeping us busy wasting time fixing things or going to the dump instead of using that time to stay ahead of the curve. A plot I say. It takes incrementally more of the earths resources to make something that lasts 18 years vs 2 months. I saw a full page ad for a hot water tank guaranteed 8 YEARS in bold print. As if that is a feat. It should easily last 18 years.
Hey RossK, I saw a young woman on the SeaBus this morning, she'd walked on with a TREK 1000 bicycle.
I asked her how the pedals were doing and she burst out laughing......
It turns out that when she bought the bike, it didn't have any pedals!!!!
Now, she says she'll be checking out your blog for recommendations.....
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