Just walked past the cycle shelter at work. Great to see some people are commuting on two wheels but the condition of some of these machines defies belief!…miss-aligned brake pads, frayed cables, chains that have never seen any lube, lights and reflectors pointing all over the place and bottom brakets and chainsets caked in so much cack I’m supprised they even turn.

Half tempted to bring in my workstand and tools tomorrow and start a “this is how you look after your bike” tutorial.

How do some people just not give one?

I’m a company car driver and feel the same about some other peoples vehicles. I guy near me had a Saab 9-3 and he never once cleaned the brake dust off the front wheels in the three years he had it. It just made him look like a scruffy bastard

It frustrates me seeign badly maintained bikes.

some bloke ridign along on a bike with one v-brake disconnected, an orange chain chirping it’s way across chainrings and rear cogs like throwing stars.

and then I think, fair play to you, you’re out there riding, maybe for financial reasons and you just throw the bike on the front yard when you get home and pick it up next time you want to go somewhere but you’re riding.

I’m quite keen to set up a ‘stealth oiling’ team to visit the worst offenders though.

Practically:

Why not ask your employer to arrange for Dr Bike or whoever to turn up and give all the cycle commuters bikes a once over. Good PR for the company (getin local paper) gets people riding safe bikes (less staff sickness due to ‘issues’) and may encourage people to come in if they knwo their bike’ll get fixed (fitter staff take less time off)?

The thing I always notice about BSO’s is they never seem to have more than 2PSI in the tyres

I guess as long as the bike goes and stops enough for their requirements then all is well in their world. Different standards and outlooks. With regard to the saab does brake dust affect braking performance? If not, why the fuss? He night think you’re odd for cleaning a company car.

I spotted a fella riding a BSO yesterday who either didn’t want to have children or had already had his testicles removed judging by the nose up angle of his saddle 😯

Half tempted to bring in my workstand and tools tomorrow and start a “this is how you look after your bike” tutorial.

ooooohhhh, get you 😉

It’s a bike for getting to work – who gives a ****?
I’ll bet you keep your lawnmower pristine too 😆

the frustrating thing is that their ignorance might put them off riding. With flat tyres, rusted chain, seat far too low and random gear choice most of them must think cycling is painful and hard work.

Got 2 friends who are gym instructors, just getting into riding in order to take up triathlons. Had a look at their bikes to give them a 30second tweak. One had just done a 10mile road ride in the granny ring and both had the saddle at primary school cycling proficiency “reach the floor whilst in the saddle” heights. A few adjustments have transformed their experience for the better.

I did think about putting a few flyers on some of the rusty heaps in the bike shed at the train station offering my services. But I guess I would need some kind of insurance cover to start working on people’s bikes for money. And if I am honest I hate working on junkers.

There are lots of things going for them:- No repair costs, Not going to be stolen, No insurance costs, No expensive locks. When it finally breaks replace with one for a tenner from the small ads. Save an absolute fortune to spend on their play bike!

Richard

There were some right shockers at the last place I worked. The hightlight being a rigid “Emelle” with a backwards fork and a loose headset, I actually left a post-it on it one day offering to fix it for free before the owner killed themselves. Didn’t get an answer though

I think some people just don’t have any mechanical empathy (it’s not really sympathy, is it? don’t why that just occurred to me).

They don’t hear the noises, or if they do, dismiss them as “bike noises”, they don’t think they know enough, or want to know enough about what’s causing them to start working out out how to fix them. And probably “bike maintenance” seems like a big thing they don’t know how to do. “Sure, I could oil the chain, but the gears aren’t as good as they were, and the back break doesn’t work anymore either and I can’t sort that on my own, so I should probably take it into a shop and get it all done, but that’ll probably cost more than the bike’s worth, and it still gets me around, and it’s probably less likely to get nicked like this anyway…” -> slide into acceptance of a rickety shit bike they don’t have to care about, and it’s soon past the point of economic repair, and no more having to worry about whether to do something or not.

If this subject intrigues you, read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the opening musings/philosophisings are about his companions’ lack of interest in the maintenance of their bike, their home, their anxiety/fear about technology in general. very interesting, very perceptive, and just as relevant now as it was when it was written.

I think there’s just a general lack of understanding/interest in bicycles beyond getting around.

The latest Tesco catalog has a bike with the forks the wrong way round in it – why should the people who buy them be expected to know it’s wrong?

and maybe it is a good thing – bicycle as a means of transport not object of desire.

I used to park my bike next to a badly maintained filthy cheapy bike in London years ago.

After seeing it for months i could no longer live with myself and gave it a clean one day. Probably shouldn’t of as it wasn’t my business but i felt much better afterwards. 🙂

now hear is a chance to make ur self some cash, £20 a bike, fix them ur lunch brake, put some posters up, do bosses for nowt, help the companys environment policy and get a promotion, maybe 🙂

They don’t hear the noises, or if they do, dismiss them as “bike noises”, they don’t think they know enough, or want to know enough about what’s causing them to start working out out how to fix them. And probably “bike maintenance” seems like a big thing they don’t know how to do. “Sure, I could oil the chain, but the gears aren’t as good as they were, and the back break doesn’t work anymore either and I can’t sort that on my own, so I should probably take it into a shop and get it all done, but that’ll probably cost more than the bike’s worth, and it still gets me around, and it’s probably less likely to get nicked like this anyway…” -> slide into acceptance of a rickety shit bike they don’t have to care about, and it’s soon past the point of economic repair, and no more having to worry about whether to do something or not.

I think this pretty much sums up the badly maintained BSO owners attitude. I’ve just gone to speak to one of the offenders and offered to give their bike a “once over” and was told “Oh thanks, but does it really need it? It seems ok to me but you can have a look if you like.”

Glad I offered. 🙄

ned, ZAMM ordered thanks for heads up.