I want to ride my bike

I WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE
Remember that rock song? I think it was by Queen. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. Aah. Better quality of drugs back then. Now they’re like a can of baby formula from China. Okay, I don’t know how they are, it has been quite a long while since I’ve killed any brain cells at higher than their normal rate. Unless that includes the mercury in the water around here. Before I regale you with yet more tales of my commuting adventures ( honest, I have a point or two ), a hearty hi ho and thanks a million to Vlad and Bill for your snail mail donations. Just in time, too. I know for a fact that the supreme powers of the universe, all the gods, have a slightly dark side to their humor. They are easily amused, yet also quickly bored. So they just mess with me slightly and then move on. For one thing, the minute I get any extra money I always have something go amiss. Between the time I’m advised of the payment and the time it is deposited into my account, the money is already spent. I’m fixing to get $179 from a Google Ad payment. The evil ex, the handmaiden of Satan, or, better known as the Satan’s Handmaiden Immortalized for all Time ( S.H.I.T. ), calls up and nicely asks for a hundred bucks for our sons letterman jacket. Okay, I hate sports but I get it. But, the asking nice part is a ruse. She casually mentions how she is so nice and grand and hasn’t stuck me with recent medical bills. Message: fork over the hundred or I send medical bills for more than that. Then, my bike needs repairs. Total, $183. So close, it must be divine intervention. But, to get back to my snail mail donations, thanks for the propane money, guys.
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My bike was making hideous noises as I was peddling down the road. So I bring it in to the towns only bike shop. Now, I like the bike shop guy. He’s cool people and I trust him in our dealings. I can only conclude that the gods are more amused at spending my money than with giving the only bike shop a dishonest owner. Then I would only be screwed once. Anyway, the whole pedal assembly was loose. He had already replaced the inner workings, the ball bearing and what not, but the outer shell holding them in was the original. Typical Chinese scrap metal- the weld had separated. He didn’t have any replacement parts on hand, but by accident happened to think of trying out a mountain bike part. The older style mountain bike parts were the same size. The difference between a beach cruiser and mountain bikes is that on a cruiser, the assembly is open. Grease leaks out and dirt gets in. This is the whole unit between the two pedals. A mountain bike is one piece, not several, and it is sealed rather than open. The replacement on a mountain is quick and easy, being one piece. Now, it had only been about six months so I was sweating this being an ongoing battle. It is $30 to re-grease the cruiser pedal assembly. And I didn’t want to go with a mountain bike. Hate the damn things with all their cables and gears. Now I didn’t have to worry about it. The sealed unit should be good for years, even at my increased mileage. So, if you have a cruiser and want longevity for the pedal unit, see if your bike shop won’t replace that unit with one meant for a mountain bike. A sealed unit rather than an open one. The rear wheel is also an open design, but there is nothing you can do about that. You just have to live with the extra maintenance needed. The owner is trying to tell me cruisers are simply not designed for great distances.
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I also asked about the one piece inner tubes, the foam type. Now, this is where trusting the guy comes in handy. I don’t think he is trying to screw me over on tube changes. I only show up about every other month with a nail in the tire, the rest of the time the extra thick tube with green goo combats all the Goat’s Heads punctures. He told me that the vegetation punctures where so bad the last place he biked that he tried those out. They are great for punctures, but you create another problem. The increased shocks to your bike will wear out all your other parts quickly. The foam tubes don’t absorb shock like the aired tires do and thus they are transferred to your rims and frame. You are asking for more damages. Now, if you stay on asphalt or cement, this shouldn’t be a problem. If you don’t use the bike much, it is a great investment to have one less thing to worry about. But in my case, long commutes with a third being dirt road, it would be inviting disaster. Something to keep in mind.
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We also talked about the substitution of weaker metal in parts. I was comparing the longevity of my Wal-Mart bikes I bought seven years ago to the current one, concluding that they were now using much worse quality metal. He agreed, saying that he was seeing the same thing in his parts, except for the upper end units. So, don’t spend four times the amount on a bike shop bike ( verses a Wal-Mart bike ) and expect miracles. You will see parts failures faster than in the past. Yes, they will be better than discount store bikes, but worse than what you used to be able to buy in a shop. Mostly for the beginner, lower cost bikes. Unless you have a fortune in units and spare parts, don’t count on bikes to last very long after the collapse.
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