For years I have had a seatpost seized into the bike I ride to work. It’s a classic tale of an aluminium seatpost and a steel frame and all that chemical bonding that goes with it. This has never really been an issue over the years. The post was at the right height and I’d made some attempts to shift it, but never worried too much, figuring that it didn’t exactly need to come out.
Then, this morning, the seatpost snapped.
Considering the possible damage to myself I think I got away lightly with a scratched thigh and whiplash-like neck pain form the jarring. However, the bike is a different matter.
As I see it the worst case scenario is that it’s the end of the frame. If the remains of the post never comes out it renders the whole frame unusable. I would massively prefer this not to be the case. It’s a bike I’ve abused for years and years, as a mountain bike and then as a commuter, since I bought it in 1997. You develop a bond with a bike like that that goes beyond the simple connection with a thing. It’s been through the end of school with me, then university, and then a few jobs and a move to London. Not only that, it’s been a means for independence, exploration and fun and had endless bad moods, hangovers and upsets pounded out through its pedals. If that wasn’t enough, when I bought it, I did so on a finance deal that was done in my Dad’s name as I was under 18 and agreed to pay him back the monthly payments each month. In classic parent style I was let-off the final few payments. Since my Dad died a couple of years ago the bike almost becomes a connection that I don’t want to lose. Certainly not like this. If it went I would hope it went in dramatic style and not halfway to work and with a broken component.
So, there we are. I’m scouring the usual forums and sites for advice on how to remove it and they all seem dramatic, involving chemicals or hacksaws, and in the meantime I have to get the Tube into work. Look out for more updates as I move forward.
A
No comments:
Post a Comment