How can you ride it like that?

[Milkfloat]

But why the assumption from many here that he will just throw it away after 2years when it gets dirty or needs a minor repair? That’s an illogical assumption.

Are you reading the same thread as me? I don't see anyone saying the guy in the OP will just throw it away.

 

[Markymark]

some people are the ''use it and when it gets dirty / needs repairing - just throw it away and get another ''

More money than sense.

Are you reading the same thread as me? I don't see anyone saying the guy in the OP will just throw it away.

 

[Drago]

Sorry I'm late. I had a slow puncture on the front and was struggling a bit, when this self righteous geezer spotted the semi flat tyre and started to have a go at me!

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

I always think people who ride with their knees sticking out and sometimes their feet too, look so funny. Then I feel bad because there might be a good reason why.

[QUOTE 5466849, member: 9609"]I think my feet stick out a little, I have to ride from the arch of my foot to protect my knees (correct position hurts them) Once rode a little way with a proper cyclist and he told me I should change my pedalling position.

(and NO, I don't have sticky out 'happy feet' when I walk - they point forwards)[/QUOTE]
My son’s right foot would always be positioned with his heel on the pedal and his toes pointing 45 degrees out to the side. No idea why. He certainly doesn’t walk like that. He tried so hard to correct his foot position himself, but when his mind wandered his foot would return to the original position. We cracked it about a month ago by going clipless. He’s noticed the difference in power too as he flies along much faster now too.

 

[beepbeep]

I get that he was riding all wrong. Maybe he doesn’t care. Maybe it wasn’t his bike. Maybe he hasn’t been shown the ‘correct’ way. Maybe he bought it 2nd habd

But why the assumption from many here that he will just throw it away after 2years when it gets dirty or needs a minor repair? That’s an illogical assumption.

.....and maybe he couldn't be arsed to clean it...and when it falls apart he can go and buy a new one ?

 

[Markymark]

.....and maybe he couldn't be arsed to clean it...and when it falls apart he can go and buy a new one ?

Bikes that don't have fully inflated tyres, saddles too low or a bit dirty don't tend to just fall apart. Cross chains will only really damage the chain a little but won't be noticeable if you don't care. I would suggest that if you ride every now and again as transport, an uncared for bike will last for years and years and any detriment to the rider may not be noticed....because they just don't care.

 

[beepbeep]

ok.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I worked with a guy years ago who was a complete slut with his bike. It was an old sit up and beg made up of skip parts, every one of them solid with rust and the wheels so far out of true they were banging the brake blocks. The tyres only saw a pump when he fitted them and the rims would ground going over a match stick. One of his cotterpins was so loose that when the crank got to the two o'clock position it would immediately drop down to four, yet he rode it like that every day, complete with handlebars that were off a child's bike and way too narrow.

As long as it moved he didn't care.

 

[Randomnerd]

Just keep your beak out. It's his bike and he can do with it what he will.
Worry about something more pressing where you might do some good. Eg ask @Drago how you can help save the environment

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Sorry I'm late. I had a slow puncture on the front and was struggling a bit, when this self righteous geezer spotted the semi flat tyre and started to have a go at me!

Hope you wobbled your arse at him as you went past.

 

[KneesUp]

I worked with a guy years ago who was a complete slut with his bike. I was an old sit up and beg made up of skip parts, every one of them solid with rust and the wheels so far out of true they were banging the brake blocks. The tyres only saw a pump when he fitted them and the rims would ground going over a match stick. One of his cotterpins was so loose that when the crank got to the two o'clock position it would immediately drop down to four, yet he rode it like that every day, complete with handlebars that were off a child's bike and way too narrow.

As long as it moved he didn't care.

That sounds like a work of art.

What's the quote about a bike being a machine that is 80% efficient even when it is 80% broken?

 

[Globalti]

I once came across a bloke like that while riding the Cape Argus race. I was one of 31,999 immaculately turned out riders on our best bikes and I caught up with a bloke dressed in jeans and a T shirt on a knackered old jalopy, creaking, wobbling and clanking, who was riding along singing loudly and drawing maximum attention to the fact that he was doing the entire hilly 110 kms on a shitty old wreck and he didn't care a damn. Point made.

 

[Sharky]

A couple of baby wipes and it will sparkle like new:-

I've posted this before, so some might recognise it, but it's probably worth more than a house.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The trouble is a lot of people on here judge what they consider to be a well turned out machine using an OCD benchmark. Most cyclists, like most car owners, simply can't be arsed to spend half their spare time cleaning bits with a toothbrush and polishing it until they can see their face in the shiny bits.
I'm not condoning outright mechanical neglect, but let's not get too carried away about cosmetic appearances. I run some horribly scruffy bikes that many on here probably wouldn't be seen dead on, but they are all still mechanically adjusted and get a squirt of oil and a pump of air when required.
The riders knocking around on obviously neglected fairly expensive bikes are simply wasting money, and more fool them if they are dumb enough to do it. If they had any sense they would run a skip bike or something similar dirt cheap instead, as it would still get them from A to B at a fraction of the cost. Some people are just mugs with more money than sense, but whilst they have the absolute right to be mugs, we also have the absolute right to laugh at them for it.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I once saw a small detached house in rural Japan entirely surrounded by a forest of discarded bicycles. I wondered if there was a bicicular Snow White sleeping within, waiting for her bike mechanic Prince to fight his way in and deliver an enlightening kiss. Looking at the pile, I decided not to be that guy . . .

I remember a cyclist in Japan telling me of a conversation with some students. They were commiserating with a colleague who reportedly had to throw her bike away.
"What's wrong with it?" he asked, all innocent.
"It's got a flat tyre." came the indignant reply...