So, I'm very close to joining the ranks of targe...a hum... cyclists in london.
I've never cycled round anything close to a city, and a mixture of intimidation from massive buses and lack of the old road knowledge (where to be on the road depending on where you want to turn, or go) had got the best of me.
This weekend however, I was browsing gumtree for bikes and came across a guy selling a couple. one was a 12year old aluminium framed Kona mountain bike. He said he'd take £25 for it and told me about the issues it had, I thought £25 was still a bargain, so I went to his place...
I guess gumtree is renowned for moving stolen bikes, but this just looked like it had been in a damp shed for 12 years, the front derailleur had been broken and removed, and the guy had poached the rear brakes for his newer bike he got on a cycle to work scheme (he showed me that bike too and pointed the pads out). He had put in a new cable for a new derailleur, but never got round to fixing it after he got his new bike.
I took it. I had a 5 mile ride home through south london. first time on a bike in years and with no rear brakes and only semi functioning front brakes. I have to admit I took advantage of the pavement at times. I also found myself getting mixed up at on bigger roads when needing to cross traffic at junctions to turn. Just not used to that. Once I got going I felt less worried about just being on the road so I imagine the rest will come back the more I get out.
After I got home I decided that in order to really go out again, I'd probably need brakes! So I headed to this spot at london bridge i'd walked past when my ex used to work in that area.
http://druidcycles.wordpress.com/about/This place is actually crazy. It looks like a weird hippy commune in the side of a railway arch, but the dude that runs it looks like an 60 year old east german body builder. His name is Thor. He was yelling a bit which is not normally what you do in front of customers, but I don't mind that. While I was waiting local kids were coming and getting their punctures fixed for free, or borrowing tools to fix them themselves in the street outside. Others kids were turning up and asking if any jobs needed doing and promptly got sent to pick up some fizzy water. So... not the vibe you get from a branch of Evans or Halfords!
After waiting a few mins (it was a little busy) I got sorted with the brakes. They stock new and good condition reclaimed parts, so i was charged £1.25 per reclaimed brake pad. We got talking about my bike, how the old frame looks good, and how it's light, how the grip shift gears would probably brake... etc. I mentioned in the future I'd like to convert it to single speed (not fixed) and the guy got excited and started coming up with all these ideas.
I originally just went over from brake pads but after talking with this guy I left my bike there. For the cost of a service (which the bike really badly needed anyway) and parts I could get the conversion done, and if they could keep the good bits they take off my bike, then they'd reduce the cost. They reckon I could pick my bike up in 2 or 3 days, which seems like a fast turnaround for the amount of work. I think the parts they are using will be reclaimed parts that have been checked, so probably no worse than what was on there already... anyway! just wanted to let some london cyclists know about this place if they didn't know already.
hopefully i'll be riding new cross to white city for work in no time!
