Commuter Bike #2

A well maintained bike is a happy bike, and my commuter bike has been in need of some happiness for a while. Part of this is intentional. In the caste of bicycles, my commuter would be on the level of Undesirable. The frame is a women's Schwinn Worldsport - unremarkable to two types of cyclists: Hipster/Messengers and Racers. For Hipster/Messengers, it's unappealing because it's inelegant, no one wants women's frames, and I don't have it set up as a fixie. For Racers, dude, that frame is HEAVY. The finishing touches of Undesirable come in the form of the general look of unkempt-ness: the paint is mad-chipped on the frame, the bar tape looks ragged and about to unravel. Thus, even to the third category of cyclists, Ordinary Folks Who Cycle, it looks like it's in dreadful shape. However, this is exactly what I love about this commuter. I'm hoping that this deters people who would steal my bike. This, and a good Kryptonite U-lock, of course.

The big secret of course, is that it runs great. While taking some bicycle maintenance classes, my bike provided a nice example case several times, so it not only received a new cable and housing, but also a newly packed rear hub. The friction shifters are difficult to break, and the chain is pretty stretched out, but i'm not looking for instantaneous shifting on this thing anyways. The cassette looks pretty sturdy/chunky/beefy ... certainly not one of those Shimano/Campy/Sram race worthy deals. The biggest liability was the saddle. Chunks of saddle had long been lost, and I have kept it this long because it makes bike look so delightfully awful, but I decided that the gaping foam gets too wet when it comes to rain. Fortunately, someone on Bike and Build abandoned a saddle last year, so I had a spare one handy. $50 saved!

This saddle has seen better days.

The trick is not to forget how the pieces go together ... I'm more accustomed to the modern seatpost design, and it was rather unnerving to see so many different parts going into clamping a saddle. Also, they are so corroded that I wonder if it's even safe to use them ... ?


Part of learning bicycle maintenance is trouble shooting. The first time I put my saddle back on, I realized that I mounted the clamp backwards. I'm sure it wouldn't have done much lasting damage, but the inner cyclist geek in me squirmed at the thought of other cyclist geeks raising an eyebrow at the awkward saddle clamp ... and it didn't take long to switch it around. Shiny new saddle!