mend and make do
New Member
hello ,new to this forum,not been on a bike forum before.
been on and off bikes for years,my only brand new bike was 20 years ago it was a MKIII raleigh mustang (yep the pink lookin one!) as a nipper things were very tight finantially so i learned all about bikes,maintanence and building too.
due to the locals constabularies need for my car being greater than mine i am back on the push bike,infact the whole family is, 4 boys under 10 the wife and me that is.
my bike is a pheonix of sorts,the original bike was salvaged fromthe recycling center about 3 years ago,then 4 months ago it was pulled out of the hedge it was leant against back then and dusted off,after a couple of weeks it became apparent that it was buggered ,and so i began salvaging bits from bikes from all over,skips,yard sales,mates etc,and within a week i had a new very ugly but mechanically sound bike.
as i often have a child seat attached a regular gents frame is a pain as when you swing a leg over the saddle to get on the nipper has to duck! so a girls frame was found,also the conventional handle bars i find hive me a back ache so i fitted some dutch style cruiser bars,still needs to be higher so i have a bit of welding to do and i will be happy,the seat is awful! i need a gel seat at some point.
The benefits of the bike are great,ive lost around 4 stone in weight and have become very fit in the process,living on top of a hill means going out is fine but coming home is a drag, i find now that i am riding for pleasure more than necessity, and the hills are getting flatter.
so the bikes get us where we are going ,which is usually church,school,allotments or town for shopping,and long may it continue.
been on and off bikes for years,my only brand new bike was 20 years ago it was a MKIII raleigh mustang (yep the pink lookin one!) as a nipper things were very tight finantially so i learned all about bikes,maintanence and building too.
due to the locals constabularies need for my car being greater than mine i am back on the push bike,infact the whole family is, 4 boys under 10 the wife and me that is.
my bike is a pheonix of sorts,the original bike was salvaged fromthe recycling center about 3 years ago,then 4 months ago it was pulled out of the hedge it was leant against back then and dusted off,after a couple of weeks it became apparent that it was buggered ,and so i began salvaging bits from bikes from all over,skips,yard sales,mates etc,and within a week i had a new very ugly but mechanically sound bike.
as i often have a child seat attached a regular gents frame is a pain as when you swing a leg over the saddle to get on the nipper has to duck! so a girls frame was found,also the conventional handle bars i find hive me a back ache so i fitted some dutch style cruiser bars,still needs to be higher so i have a bit of welding to do and i will be happy,the seat is awful! i need a gel seat at some point.
The benefits of the bike are great,ive lost around 4 stone in weight and have become very fit in the process,living on top of a hill means going out is fine but coming home is a drag, i find now that i am riding for pleasure more than necessity, and the hills are getting flatter.
so the bikes get us where we are going ,which is usually church,school,allotments or town for shopping,and long may it continue.
