Back in February I bought a bike. It was chained up outside a house with a for sale tag slipped in the brakes; a £25 bargain. I intended to do it up, and in the process learn more about maintaining a bike. That’s an important consideration, considering almost all of my journeys these days are made by bike.

Well, it was in slightly worse condition than I expected, and dad was very keen to get his hands on it himself, having spent the last 15 years or so working as a bike mechanic in France. I resisted for a while, but eventually relented, and let him take it on as a project.

This weekend I got it back, which meant we had four bikes in the house, so as we had Steven and Anthony over for the weekend Rich and I took them out for a ride to Writtle. I rode the new one.

I’m very impressed. The chain slipped off once and I think there is a slow puncture in the back tyre so it still needs a little work, but other than that it was smooth and surprisingly easy to ride. Particularly when you consider how much heavier it is than my regular bike.

I’d spent £7 on some new gears and brakes, £4 on a new set of handlebars and £4.95 on some grips which, when added to the cost of the bike, brings the total bill to £40.95.

That’s pretty good for a new (second hand) bike, and it’ll save me at least that much in petrol over the course of a year as it is to become the new shopping bike. To help that happen, I’ve just bought some paniers for £7.95 on eBay, and will need to add a rack to support them.

I’m very pleased with the result, despite the fact I still know no more about fixing a bike than I did before I bought it.

Related posts:

1. A bike to build
2. Bike trailers
3. Fitting panniers to the shopping bike