Too Young To Die ― 2013/06/23

My bicycle is six years old, which I don’t think old enough for any bike to be scrapped.

Although some parts of it have been replaced and some parts are very rusty,

unrecoverable?
it still works. I have oiled the chain and cleaned the frame every 10 days, assuming I could live with it unless the frame breaks… until its chain cover was cracked.
unfixable
   I thought the problem would be fixed once I bring it into a local bike shop and get the cover replaced. Then, however, I was told that the bike was nearly dying and the chain cover was irreplaceable as a screw that fastens the cover to the bike was so rusty and couldn’t be loosened with screwdriver (and CRE556, and/or hammer, and the repairer’s sweats and groan).
only single screw
The repairer even told me that I should consider buying new one because sooner or later the repair cost would exceed the bike’s original cost, JPY 39,800.

Unconvinced, of course, I went to another shop from which I bought the bike only to be told the exactly same thing (in a bit softer and more apologetic tone). How can single screw make a bike scrapped? I felt remorse for not looking after the bike properly in the first year and a half. It was too late to start polish bike after that period of time. I  underestimated how damaging sea breeze could be then.


Then, my husband suddenly offered a help declaring he would fix the problem on his honour as an ex-engineer.

The result… As you may well imagine, he screwed up by completely stripping the ridge of the screw, leaving the bike even more irreparable. The crack is tentatively fixed with vinyl tape, but now that I might have to consider saving some money for a new bike which lasts at least 10 years with TLC.


The problem is, bicycles have become surprisingly more expensive in the past few years … I might need more than JPY 50,000 for a bike if I wished similar specs with my current bike.


Does this hike have anything to do with the Abenomics?

by Unagiinu [(Fukuoka Days) Material World] [コメント(2)｜トラックバック(0)]