Thursday, July 08, 2004
Clearly, the bike and I were not meant to be.

So about a month ago, I saw what I thought was a pretty serviceable bike in a Target circular for ~$60. I waited 3 days to get it, and it was sold out. I called the store at 8am every freakin' morning for 3 days to see if they had gotten a few more in. Finally, an answer in the affirmative, and I sent a frantic call to Daddy to pick one up for me. Bike comes home, I get really psyched.

But lo and behold... the brakes are nearly useless.

I don't know much about bike brakes, but these cantilever brakes had to be squeezed really, really hard to get any semblance of stopping force on the front wheel, which didn't end up being much, and the rear brakes really were absolutely useless. We could adjust the brakes but a strong front would screw up the rear and vice versa; when they were balanced, they were both ineffectual.

Back goes the bike for repair. One week later, still no call. We go into Target to check on its status, and the kid working there is an absolute idiot; he doesn't understand that we don't want another bike assembled, we just want the brakes to work. Eventually I decide that all the cantilever brakes on that model bike just weren't going to work, especially when I found that they were also faulty on all the other assembled models.

I check out the brakes on a cheap Schwinn on display, and they work beautifully. Turns out it's a 'linear pull system' or something of that sort instead of cantilever. But cheap though it may be, I can't bring myself to spend anything more than $60 on a bike that I know has a chance of being stolen in Boston.

So I visit the home of cheap things-- KMart.

There's a decent bike there too, and the brakes actually work, but it's $80. I decide to stick it out and wait for a sale from any store, because it is bike season after all and I figure I won't have to wait that long.

2 weeks later, I give up the wait and go in to buy the bike-- but they're all gone... *sob*. I ask an employee when they'll be getting more, and he says Thursday. Being the cheap Asian I am, >dingdingding< I figure out desired bike will probably go on sale.

But on Thursday?!!? Damn you Kmart, for screwing up the sale cycle... isn't it usually Sun-Sat?

By the time I get there at 8am on Sun, they're all gone. I hit 3 different Kmart stores within 30 min of each other, having gotten out of bed at 8am ON A SUNDAY, and find exactly one left at the last store. HALLELUJAH!!

====

The bike is a bit clunky in gear changes and such, but otherwise it's very serviceable.

Fast forward post-first-ride: my ass is sore. As in, I can't sit down on a chair without mentally groaning. Bike saddles are damn uncomfortable.

Fast forward to second ride: I'm sitting back while front braking on a steep hill, and the seat actually jerks back. HARD. It's not too terrible, but still kind of shocking. I get home and the seat has rotated backwards by about 30 degrees. Umm.. yeah.

Fast forward to third ride tonight: the handlebar starts shaking. Aaaannnnd it slides out to the left.... again on a hill. MOTHERFUCKER!! I end up walking my bike home for 10 minutes, since it's hard to bike without steering.

Granted, my handlebar and such got a lot of force when I try to pedal uphill, etc. But it's suppposed to be a mountainbike and handle all that crap.

I swear, the people who assembled the bike at Kmart are either trying to kill their customers, or the bike and I were not meant to continue our relationship into adulthood.

--posted by M @ 1:28 AM | 0 comments

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