It’s one of these under appreciated everyday items. My good old bicycle. And when I say old, I mean old. At least relatively. I think my parents bought this for me in 1994 or 1995, when I was 14/15 years old. So this bike has been for me for more than half of my life. Well, some parts of it are that old. The bicycle is one of the few (more ore less technically complex) things, which I am able to repair. And I repaired it a lot and changed most of this parts, by now. The frame broke in 2001, but since its producer Fahrradmanufaktur gave ten years of warranty, I got a spare frame and transferred everything from the old frame to the new one.
Rims, handlebar, rear sprockets, low riders, pannier rack, lamps, kickstand, … about everything broke once or more times. Dozens of brake pads, gear and brake cables, tires got replaced. Splash guards, pedals, bottle holders and reflectors from other abandoned bikes got reused. Cork bar tape and bicycle chains got battered and renewed. And of course I didn’t buy a kiddy seat before 2008, when our first child turned one year.
So what’s left from my original bicycle?
The sun tour gear and brake lever are original, so is the crank and the Abus lock. And one thing I really love, and which I did never think would last 20 years: my Brooks bicycle saddle. It took a thousand kilometers to make it comfy, and I blame it for destroying dozens of jeans through out the years. But I wouldn’t trade it for a thing.
I often dreamt of buying a new bike. But always resisted. I had five or six Macs since I got my current bike. I bought about ten phones since 1998. I even owned three cars by now. My bike is one of the last remaining non-disposable articles I own. And I think I’ll stick to it for a while.