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Jerome K Jerome seems to think that you should pick one - what do you reckon? I quite like a bit of both, but after spending most of yesterday replacing frame bearings I am beginning to think he has a point....
"There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can “overhaul” it, or you can ride it. On the whole, I am not sure that a man who takes his pleasure overhauling does not have the best of the bargain.
He is independent of the weather and the wind; the state of the roads troubles him not. Give him a screw-hammer, a bundle of rags, an oil-can, and something to sit down upon, and he is happy for the day. He has to put up with certain disadvantages, of course; there is no joy without alloy.
He himself always looks like a tinker, and his machine always suggests the idea that, having stolen it, he has tried to disguise it; but as he rarely gets beyond the first milestone with it, this, perhaps, does not much matter.
The mistake some people make is in thinking they can get both forms of sport out of the same machine. This is impossible; no machine will stand the double strain. You must make up your mind whether you are going to be an “overhauler” or a rider. Personally, I prefer to ride, therefore I take care to have near me nothing that can tempt me to overhaul. When anything happens to my machine I wheel it to the nearest repairing shop. If I am too far from the town or village to walk, I sit by the roadside and wait till a cart comes along.
My chief danger, I always find, is from the wandering overhauler. The sight of a broken-down machine is to the overhauler as a wayside corpse to a crow; he swoops down upon it with a friendly yell of triumph. At first I used to try politeness. I would say:
“It is nothing; don’t you trouble. You ride on, and enjoy yourself, I beg it of you as a favour; please go away.”
Experience has taught me, however, that courtesy is of no use in such an extremity. Now I say:
“You go away and leave the thing alone, or I will knock your silly head off.”
And if you look determined, and have a good stout cudgel in your hand, you can generally drive him off."
Golden Quote I would say 😀
... but I still believe that "Three Men in a Boat" was better, despite no bikes,
Cheers!
I.
Both for me.. I'm lucky i get a fair bit of free time, so more than happy to do both.
I simply cannot ride THAT much.. So i enjoy both aspects equally.
Neither, I'd say:
“I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”
Oh Riding for me, I bitch and moan in bad weather or I'm "forced" to ride the trails I don't like but it's better than most things.
That said, I've never had the 'perfect' workshop, I'd like.
I've finally got a garage I own, but it's not exactly water tight and short of knocking it down and starting again, it never will be. It's also not got power or light, so it's cold and dark at the exact times I'd rather be in it, spannering rather than outside pedalling. It also hasn't got a sound proof, securely locked down I can stop my wife "just asking" how long I'm going to be...
A bit of both for me. I fear that I am a mincer, however, both in terms of riding and spannering!
I have oft found bike maintenance frustrating ... Gear indexing that I can't get right, troublesome tubeless attempts, mixed success with brake bleeding. I've never attempted a fork service. But most other stuff I'll have a bash at, and usually quite enjoy.
I've had a good run of overhauling this year (for me). Built up 3 bikes. Finally cracked gear set up & indexing (forced to as my friendly bike mechanic has packed it all in, ready to travel the world!). Have set up 6 wheels tubeless in the last fortnight with ridiculous ease.
At other times, lack of time, or being overwhelmed with what needs to be over-hauled, leads me to wheel the bicycle to the local bicycle repair shop and let them sort it out.
Overhauling is, for me, an essential part of being able to ride, and over time, I have come to enjoy, and become marginally more competent at it, but if I had to give one up, it would be the maintenance!
Jerome K Jerome seems to think that you should pick one – what do you reckon?
I reckon he's an asswipe
Both, they are totally different.
Riding is the visceral thrill of the near miss, the perfect bit of flow, the emotions of a beautiful view or the feel of an autumn forest.
Fixing bikes is more cerebral, the appreciation of a simple machine made to work perfectly and the simple appreciation of knowledge applied by the hands to makes something work again.
I love them both
But its probably maintenance I'm better at.
I actually take in "strays" and fix them up sometimes for a few beers, mostly for free. Fixing up a kids bike is particularly satisfying, most of the time they just need the tyres pumped up and the gears indexed.
To be fair I can imagine that in the 1890's bike maintenance would have been a bit more like an art than a science - all handmade parts that had to be fettled together.
More like working on an antique shotgun than today's bike parts where they are all made by machines and all fit nicely with each other (in theory at least).
I reckon he’s an asswipe
It's like living during the Renaissance round here sometimes.
It’s like living during the Renaissance round here sometimes.
Quite the opposite.... "Renaissance Man" would have been able to cycle AND fix their own bike (or helicopter) in 6 languages.
Another vote for both here. Nothing better than riding a bike you've specced, built and maintained around all day and having it work with no mechanicals or little annoying issues.
Riding every time, I fix what needs fixing but I'd far rather be out enjoying myself.
Riding by about ninety million percent. Maintenance is a necessary evil like cleaning the house or paying the bills. Something I’ll do, but begrudge doing so.
What funkmasterp said. Except the house cleaning, I don't bother with that. Too busy trying to find the tiny screw off my bike I just dropped in the garage.
Depends on the maintenance. If it’s greasy, oily or messy, I’ll pay someone any amount to not have to do it.
Fitting/tinkering/tuning stuff I like as much as riding.
Riding for me.
Nothing better than just jumping on a bike someone else has built/fixed ready for you.
I don’t have the time or the commitment to learn how to maintain my bikes.
When I’ve tried to do anything more complicated than changing a tube the bike is invariably had to go to the lbs to fix my bodged effort, I now bypass that part and take it straight to the shop.
I do both, but I would rather ride. Its not that simple though. I fettle to make sure I can ride.
In my formative mtb years of the early naughties I moved around the south a bit, suffering poor workmanship, expense and excessive travel and lost time just getting to shops.
It was pretty simple to review the excess time and cash and conclude that I could buy the tools and spend the time learning to do it myself immediately excluding the poor workmanship in the process.
And so it came to pass that after redundancy some 10 years later I was good enough to become a mechanic in a shop to get by.
Either both or nothing for me.
If i am enjoying cycling then i enjoy a well set up workshop for fettling.
Its been a long time since i've last enjoyed either. So i drag myself out on my singlespeed occasionally and throw the bike in the corner after.
Thankgod for singlespeeds!
Maintenance is a necessary evil for me.
I can understand the satisfaction of building or fixing a bike but surely it's ultimately all about riding, even if you enjoy maintenance?
Otherwise, you may as well take up fixing lawn mowers as a hobby.