The Shortness of my Biking life
Remember how excited I was about the bikes? YAY BIKES?
Basically they kind of suck ass.
They are cheap and basically worth what I paid for them.
First, a spoke on Ben's tire was bent. He traded it in.
Then, the brake wouldn't tighten on my bike.
Then, he tried to work with his brake to see if he could fix it some other way that he didn't see. Now his brake won't tighten either.
He took it into Hutch's, and they said that the brake wire is stripped. BRAND FUCKING NEW, and the brake wire is STRIPPED.
$10 later, they informed him he could buy a new brake, it would cost $10 and then $15 to install the brake. And then they said that it basically wasn't worth it, cause we are only going to have more problems (which seems likely, at this point) with them and Walmart bikes aren't really meant to be ridden. Granted, as Karina pointed out, they will be biased. Of course they'd love it if you bought a bike from them, right now. But still, I don't want the bike to fall apart in a couple of months. It's not really a deal if it falls apart, right?
All this after the helmet crap. We had so much problems finding the EXACTLY right damn helmets. I felt so grown up, to be actually wearing a helmet (cause who wants to be a vegetable, cause they were stupid on their bike? Plus, it's a good example for Derek.), and then it took so long to get the right fit. I'm still not sure it's entirely right. Who knew it was so freaking complicated just to "fit" your helmet to your head?
(O/T-My back itches so bad I would like to just SCRATCH the skin off. Please can I? I think I forget the itching part. The pain I can deal with, but the itching? It's almost too much. Oh well, I'll forget about it later and get a new tattoo and you all will hear the same bitching about it. Sorry in advance.)
We've basically come to the conclusion that we need to get these damn bikes back to Walmart before they won't let us. We're done. I will almost miss the new bike tire smell in my house, since we have two bikes (and two boxes) sitting in my (already cramped) living room. I'm sad that I am not going to be able to ride my fantastic, purple, and cheap bike. Apparently, I am not allowed to get the form of exercise I love most. Besides swimming. Swimming is better, actually. We are going to be checking out craigslist and whatever else we can think of, and I guess if it comes down to it, we'll buy one used bike and it'll be expensive, but at least we'll be able to run to the store quick, or I could go on a ride if I wanted. We'll have to share it, but that would be all right. We share a lot already, one more thing won't kill us. Apparently, there isn't a lot to pick from in regards to used bikes in a town like Eugene. People must just always keep their bikes? I'm sure as hell not buying 2 $300 (affordable) bikes from the bike shops. Maybe Fred Meyer? It could be marginally better, and easier to get to if the damn thing becomes a problem.
Alas, poor bike, I knew you not at all.
Basically they kind of suck ass.
They are cheap and basically worth what I paid for them.
First, a spoke on Ben's tire was bent. He traded it in.
Then, the brake wouldn't tighten on my bike.
Then, he tried to work with his brake to see if he could fix it some other way that he didn't see. Now his brake won't tighten either.
He took it into Hutch's, and they said that the brake wire is stripped. BRAND FUCKING NEW, and the brake wire is STRIPPED.
$10 later, they informed him he could buy a new brake, it would cost $10 and then $15 to install the brake. And then they said that it basically wasn't worth it, cause we are only going to have more problems (which seems likely, at this point) with them and Walmart bikes aren't really meant to be ridden. Granted, as Karina pointed out, they will be biased. Of course they'd love it if you bought a bike from them, right now. But still, I don't want the bike to fall apart in a couple of months. It's not really a deal if it falls apart, right?
All this after the helmet crap. We had so much problems finding the EXACTLY right damn helmets. I felt so grown up, to be actually wearing a helmet (cause who wants to be a vegetable, cause they were stupid on their bike? Plus, it's a good example for Derek.), and then it took so long to get the right fit. I'm still not sure it's entirely right. Who knew it was so freaking complicated just to "fit" your helmet to your head?
(O/T-My back itches so bad I would like to just SCRATCH the skin off. Please can I? I think I forget the itching part. The pain I can deal with, but the itching? It's almost too much. Oh well, I'll forget about it later and get a new tattoo and you all will hear the same bitching about it. Sorry in advance.)
We've basically come to the conclusion that we need to get these damn bikes back to Walmart before they won't let us. We're done. I will almost miss the new bike tire smell in my house, since we have two bikes (and two boxes) sitting in my (already cramped) living room. I'm sad that I am not going to be able to ride my fantastic, purple, and cheap bike. Apparently, I am not allowed to get the form of exercise I love most. Besides swimming. Swimming is better, actually. We are going to be checking out craigslist and whatever else we can think of, and I guess if it comes down to it, we'll buy one used bike and it'll be expensive, but at least we'll be able to run to the store quick, or I could go on a ride if I wanted. We'll have to share it, but that would be all right. We share a lot already, one more thing won't kill us. Apparently, there isn't a lot to pick from in regards to used bikes in a town like Eugene. People must just always keep their bikes? I'm sure as hell not buying 2 $300 (affordable) bikes from the bike shops. Maybe Fred Meyer? It could be marginally better, and easier to get to if the damn thing becomes a problem.
Alas, poor bike, I knew you not at all.
Comments
We just got done with it and back about half and hour ago.