Yesterday, I learned the hard way about the importance of bicycle maintenance.
Last time I bought bicycle brakes, I opted for the slightly more expensive (but more ecofriendly) cartridge model. Instead of replacing the whole composite brake pad, metal and all, you just slide out only the rubber bit and replace that.
Less waste. Makes sense.
Now, I had known for awhile that my back brakes were wearing down. I even went and bought some new cartridges. But did I actually install them? Of course not.
The thing with cartridge brakes is that they have a little metal pin that keeps the rubber bit in place (see photo), and if you let your brakes wear down too much, or don’t have them adjusted properly, the pin can, apparently, rub along the side of your wheel.
And if there is a piece of metal rubbing along your bike tire, you can pretty much bank on blowing out the sidewall and getting a flat.
I think you can guess what happened.
So because I was too lazy to spend 5 minutes putting in a new brake cartridge, I wasted a whole tire. I know I can recycle it, but what a frikin’ waste! (Not to mention the fact that I had to take the bus to work this morning.)
Moral of the story: a little work now means a lot less waste down the road.
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Pretty funny. I can hear the swearing now. We recycle kids bikes. My wife hates it but I bring home stray alley bikes that people are throwing out, fix them and make my kids ride them. Okay some don’t peddle to well but others get passed on to other kids. We always get a good laugh from friends who like to make fun of my garbage man ways but show up everyspring for a bike. We call the bikes we find “bikes of the universe”–you don’t own them only borrow them for a little while then pass them on.
I love the “bikes of the universe” idea. My roommate has one of those in the shed right now. Not quite operable right now, but it will be by the time summer really hits.
Lately I’ve been eyeing a new touring bike, but have managed to hold myself back so far and hang on to my good old Kona that I’ve had since I was 16.