do you maintain lesser 'things'?

[fossyant]

I look after the whole fleet in my household. About 10.

 

[Globalti]

I maintain everything I own, the car is aways clean and tidy because I never know when I'm going to get a call from an overseas visitor who has turned up; the house because, as le Corbusier says, a house should be a machine for living so nothing annoys me more than something that doesn't work, even something as small as a door latch.Nothing is broken, neglected or malfunctioning in my house or on my bikes or the family's bikes.

A well-used piece of equipment bears honourable scars and signs of wear from use, that's fine but neglect is almost criminal, in my mind. It's an insult to the people who designed and built that piece of equipment for you.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I'll help anyone out with their bike but I will NOT touch a filthy bike.

 

[S.Giles]

A well-used piece of equipment bears honourable scars and signs of wear from use, that's fine....

Absolutely. That is my philosophy exactly.

I ride what many would consider to be a 'lesser thing', and enjoy maintaining it myself.

 

[young Ed]

It's an insult to the people who designed and built that piece of equipment for you.

a lot of the machines, tools and equipment i own, especially down the workshop, i designed and built for my self, is this then an insult to me?
Cheers Ed

 

[Booyaa]

so do you work on your familiy's, friends etc BSO's? the only bikes in my family that aren't BSO's are my 2 and my brothers and my mums (although mums is a good 30 years old now and never gets ridden)
mum and dad want me two magically bring back two old f'ed BSO's from the dead, i simply don't bother with them since i spent hours messing about with them to no avail

i only work on my nice £800 bike now and i would consider my brothers triban 3 if he asked me nicely

does this make me rude, a bike snob or is this just common sense?
Cheers Ed

Yes very much so, and generally not very nice if you can't help your family out. I am pretty sure your parents have made sacrifices for you.

 

[young Ed]

Yes very much so, and generally not very nice if you can't help your family out. I am pretty sure your parents have made sacrifices for you.

in that case i shall continue to be a rude bike snob, i tried to help them out repairing these 2 BSO's just under a year ago and discovered they are beyond it (they have't been ridden since either). so i decided on this occasion as i was very busy with my own nice bike, my sheep, my bosses sheep, and fixing my dads tractor it wasn't worth wasting another 7 or 8 hours as i did last time. and for that reason i shall continue to be a rude, bike snob

you're right about that i'm generally not a very nice person, most people i know ('know' doesn't mean they like me or i like them) hate me. could i give a toss? no
Cheers Ed

 

[John the Monkey]

Never really had a bike that isn't a BSO (saving for a nice one)
keep all of the familys bikes in working order and they are all Halfords specials/argos specials
at the end of the day a bike is a bike, aslong as the pedals turn or turned at some point ill work on it.

Depends really - I've worked on some shockers (flexy brake levers, gears that won't stay indexed longer than a week, brakes that simply will not centre &c)

The good thing, generally, is that a little outlay can get them in good nick (swapping those pressed metal arm brakes for some low range, but solid v-brakes, for example). My absolute favourites are '90s MTBs and Hybrids - usually the frames are decent enough steel, and a set of v-brake levers & v-brakes to replace the old cantis transforms them.

 

[hedder2212]

Depends really - I've worked on some shockers (flexy brake levers, gears that won't stay indexed longer than a week, brakes that simply will not centre &c)

The good thing, generally, is that a little outlay can get them in good nick (swapping those pressed metal arm brakes for some low range, but solid v-brakes, for example). My absolute favourites are '90s MTBs and Hybrids - usually the frames are decent enough steel, and a set of v-brake levers & v-brakes to replace the old cantis transforms them.

Two of my favourite bikes were just that. bikes from the 90`s that just would not die. had v-brakes installed on both, the Raleigh I just kept nicking tyres off my brothers bikes and brake pads from mums bike to keep it going. was always a mish mash of parts but was absolutely solid. went everywhere on that bike for 3-4 years. was given it by my mechanics tutor to get to/from college when I first started there and was walking a 8mile round trip. and the hawk trakatak was a £25 purchase that I commuted on for a year, then I was forced to put some new tyres onto it after the rear one got so bad it blew out on a ride home from work. I swapped the v-brakes and wheels from the Raleigh onto that bike too.

 

[John the Monkey]

Two of my favourite bikes were just that. ...

I don't know the Hawk, but I've hung on to a Raleigh Hybrid with a very similar looking frame to the one you have there. It had crap plastic brake levers, and appalling cantis that I swapped for Deore V-Brake levers and brakes - total cost of £30ish, I think. It was Mrs M's bike for a bit, then my shopping bike, and now my son rides it. A bit heavy. but nice enough that it's worth putting a bit of money into. I built an inexpensive wheelset for it in 2009 (Exal LX17 on Deore) that should keep it going for another decade or so Its tyres are Schwalbe City Jets (32c) that were about £2 from a local jumble sale.

 

[mrbikerboy73]

I think if you've spent 7-8 hours attempting to repair these BSOs to no avail, and no one even rides them, it's common sense to not bother with them. I don't think it's got anything to do with be a bike snob, being rude, or unhelpful to your family etc...