Bike

My old bike that I'd used for 'the thick end' of 15 years, without any real hassles, was well and truly knackered.

A trusty Raleigh Dakota. The gear train was completely shot and both the wheels weren't round any more.

I always had the feeling though that the frame was a little small so on my birthday I treated myself to a new, larger bike.

Nothing flash, something sturdy that could handle roads and not-roads for the daily commute to work.

A round trip of nearly nine miles a day, a bit more if I wanted to struggle over Harrow Hill.

The local 'Cycle King' were having a sale. Now, this bike shop used to be run by real bike enthusiasts. Every time I had visited I came away with the feeling that they knew what they were talking about.

This was before Cycle King took over.

Any road up, I took the plunge and bought a 23" 'Professional Reaction'  "hybrid" (doesn't look like one to me) for the ridiculously low sum of £109.

That should have been my first clue.

When it's working it's great, I like it. However...

This week the rear axle snapped as I was riding home. Good job I wasn't hurtling down Harrow Hill!

In the nearly two and a half years I have owned the bike, apart from the usual wear and tear and the almost monthly broken spoke or two, it is now on its...

• second pair of brake adjusters - thread stripped inside two months. Now fitted with a stainless steel set,
• third set of peddles - bearings became loose in their housings,
• second set of headstock bearings - bearing shells completely disintegrated,
• second bottom bracket bearings - bearing shells split,
• third rear wheel - first wheel: bearing cups disintegrated, second: shaft snapped and damaged bearing cups,
• third cassette - clutch failures,
• second ring gear - slippage between crank and ring gear,
• second chain - changed when the ring gear failed.

Is it me?

Maybe I should have bought a more expensive bike....