I'm not sure what special blend of salts Edmonton uses on its icy roads, but I've been warned by all cyclists I know about how dreadful this salt can be to one's beloved bike. That's why I haven't been taking Pashley out.
Instead, I finally got around to taking my beater bike (a super cheap, found it on somebody's lawn, vintage Raleigh) into redbike (my bike shoppe). Getting it there was a challenge. I took my basket with belt buckles off my other bike and put it on so that Dougal could ride with me and we could have a nice walk back afterwards. Problem was that the weight of the dog in the basket kept pressing down on my front fender! It was a squeaky ride.
We got there (man, am I out of biking shape) regardless, and Dougal had a fabulous romp at the bike shop. Chewing cardboard, terrorizing some plastic bottles... he's a big hit with the bike guys.
The raleigh should be ready in a few days, just needs a few changes to make it ride-able. It's never going to be a fabulous bike, but I just need certain things to work properly... like the rear brakes! And we'll get rid of the duct tape on the handlebars too...
10 comments:
Funny, I looked at a Raleigh last night. I decided not to get it and hold out for the real deal. Your 'beater' comments make me feel like I did the right thing. ☺ That salt needs to go eh? They use it here too and I hate it - it makes a mess of everything.
awww....Dougal....so cute!
Not bad looking for a "beater" bike. Good to hear you were able to go for a bit of a ride.
:-)
That's a beautiful beater bike. I love those old Raleighs. Your dog is beyond cute and that story makes me want to throw my cats in my basket for a joy ride. Too bad they would totally freak out. :)
My oma has not suffered one bit from the salted roads and I have not given her a bath or even wiped her down once. I imagine your Pashley would hold up just as well. Bonus snow/salt protection from the covered chain, gears, and brakes.
Awh, Dougal looks so cute. Also, did you get a haircut???
Sigrid,
Yeah guys at the store said the parts on that old thing are pretty cheap. I wouldn't even have it if it weren't for finding it for free and it miraculously being a pretty small frame! It will be good for having around since I have a garage to keep these things in (so it won't take up too much space). But, it's still nice to have a GOOD bike instead of a cheap old thing if one has the choice.
S*
Hi Dottie,
Thanks for the tip about the salt + bike. I took Pashley out a few times and she doesn't seem to have suffered that much... my husband is all fear mongering about it and is now saying my tires aren't suitable for the snow.
I dunno, if it's not ice... what's the dif? I'm not going to bother changing Pashley tires to studded ones since the roads aren't always icy. Sometimes it's slush, sometimes it's sand... blah!
S*
I don't wipe down my winter bike until winter's done (and please never hose a bike down! it'll flush out the good grease and leave rust behind). The dirt will just come back in a day anyway.
Edmonton mostly just uses sand, as opposed to ice-melting salt compounds that many other winter cities use. The city recollects a lot of the sand at the end of the winter--I don't know if other cities are able to re-use their salts.
The biggest threat to your beloved bicycle in winter is the snow that's melting daily. When I lived in an apartment, I left my winter bike parked outside, so it never thawed (and didn't leave a mess inside). Now I keep it in my garage, so every day it melts and gets a bit rustier.
The sand on the roads/paths causes wear because it gets into moving parts (hubs, chains, gears), wearing things down much faster.
The combination of greatly-accelerated rust and wear can make a mess of your bicycle in a few months. It's all fixable, if you're willing to spend the effort or the money, but it's better to just get a cheap/free bicycle for winter riding.
Why wreck and replace an expensive bicycle, when you can just fix up a cheap beater?
[The beauty of bicycles is that you could also let your bike rust away and not fix it, and it'll mostly still work. It'll complain a lot more, and it won't be as efficient: you'll have to work much harder to go the same distance when all the bearings are covered in dirt instead of grease. But it'll probably still get you places in a pinch. Just, with more sweat.]
The only time I ever see salt on our roads is when someone's groceries spill. But I still have a beater for rainy days.
Chris,
Yeah, my chain stuff is all enclosed so I hear that the disgusting grit will likely stay out of the important bits. I've never even really 'cleaned' a bike before, either. Except when I was a kid, and used to put my bmx on it's seat and handlebars and spray the wheels with the garden hose (wee!). I've since then heard that it's very VERY bad to do that to a bike:)
I'll go pick up the Raleigh this week and then, back to the small grocery runs, etc! And the Raleigh will likely look good with some more rust on it. Less work for me. Excellent.
S*
Evan,
Oh no to grocery spillage! Apparently the salt here is usually an individual homeowner's doing (like on their walk, etc), but the sand is still quite prolific. Oh well, I'll get my 'whatever' bike going and just abuse it. Mwhaha!
S*
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