bikelight, streetlight, starlight

[devi]

I just bought a bike. It was 25 quid. I wondered on the way over to see it whether a) it was a piece of shit, b) the owner was clueless, c) the owner just couldn't be arsed to charge more. It turned out a bit more complicated than that. The bike is lovely, but it's been stripped of anything that isn't actually bike. It has no light and no lock and no pump and no rack. I mentioned the lack of light and the owner said "Um, well, I've never cycled it at night." Hmm.

I rode it all the way back from Kidlington, four or five miles. The streets were quiet. Everyone seemed to be staying in out of the cold. Cycling past the cop shop with no light was a bit worrying, but no one noticed. It was perishingly cold, and I've barely moved a muscle this last week, and before long my legs were throbbing and my eyes were streaming and my cheeks were blaring heat, but I knew I was alive. Alive and mobile and not dependent on eccentric buses, and it was good.

Coming through the town centre I found a short cut down past Keble College, between building after building of fabulous prettiness. It felt funny cycling along the stone-flagged streets in my flappy black coat, in the dim yellow light - as if I wasn't there as myself but was acting in some sort of period drama. When I stopped at some lights to peer at my city map a white-haired man on a bike pulled up to ask if I was lost. I said no, I was figuring it out, but thanks. A tweedy young man with glasses who could have been Son Of Giles gave me a grin from where he was waiting to cross the road. The Radcliffe Camera - that round building which I think is part of the Bodleian Library? - was all lit up inside like a temple to books.

As I cycled past the floodlit dog-racing track, just before the house, a trumpet fanfare rang out through the speakers, out across the estate houses and up towards the icy stars.

I might spray-paint the bike a stupid colour. It needs a name too.

I'm playing at being a student, I know. But while it lasts it's a fun game to play.

Comments

[juliet]

FWIW, bikes if you buy 'em brand new don't come with lights, lock, or pump either (& most not with a rack, unless you get a hybrid city-bike like mine, which I bought partly *because* it came with a rack).

You might want to get the brakes & gears checked over. ISTR that the shop up in Jericho has a decent enough rep; unless you know someone who could do it for you or have bike mechanical knowledge yourself (I have been doing bike classes & could check it but am not in Ox!).

I am assuming that you are planning to *get* lights & a lock... LED lights seem to have longer battery life but are less good for actually illuminating the road (not a problem if you're cycling in streetlit areas). *Do not* get a lock with a circular key - these are vulnerable to the Bic pen trick (i.e. breakable with a Bic in under 30 secs). And never leave it just locked to itself. Of course, for a 25quid bike you're going to wind up spending about double that on kit, but even a 25quid bike will vanish sharpish if it's left unlocked/not locked to anything solid, especially in Oxford :-( (though mind you, I only had one bike nicked in Oxford, & have lost 3 in London).

Hurrah for bikes!

[triskellian]

You might want to get the brakes & gears checked over. ISTR that the shop up in Jericho has a decent enough rep; unless you know someone who could do it for you or have bike mechanical knowledge yourself
smiorgan does a lot of his own bike maintenance, and I'm sure he'd be happy to look over the new toy for you. And for a bike shop that's a bit closer than Jericho, he gets his repairs etc done at Cycloanalysts or Beeline on the Cowley Road (there's a reason why it's sometimes one and sometimes the other, probably to do with different specialist knowledge each shop has, but I can't remember what).

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

Repairs at cycloanalysts, because they know me and do a good job for not much money. Brand new kit at Beeline, because they have a good range of stuff.

Happy to look over yer bike for you and give advice if you want it. You need those lights (two rear, pref. two front as well), but LEDs should do fine as long as you don't cheapskate on the batteries like most students do. And you must, must, must wear a helmet. Yeah, those things will set you back more than the bike cost you - but you still got a great deal on the bike!

Welcome to the revoloution!

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

I thank you, sir. That would be great. And I'll get myself down to Beeline for some lights asap.

[kauket.livejournal.com]

And it's a million times faster (well not that much ok) cycling than walking to a bus stop, waiting for a bus and then sitting in it in the queues of traffic. 20 minutes from home to college on a bike, about 40 on the bus

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

Well, my two previous bikes had all that extra stuff as part of the deal. Though it occurs to me that both of them were bought *for* me (this was a long time ago) so I didn't see the whole negotiation process.

Thanks for the lock tip (30 seconds? Yikes!). And the last bike I had was left locked to itself in Trinity College Dublin and nicked, so that's one lesson I've learned well.

[juliet]

Other lock tip: the current Best Standard is considered to be 2 locks, of different types (one D-lock, one cable lock), so unsavoury types have to carry two lots of kit around with them (& the cable means you can lock the wheels). However, this may be overkill for a cheap bike - up to you!

For the record, I disagree with the helmet tip above (I don't wear one, & have done research on the matter - I don't think they make enough difference to be worth the unpleasantness, & *may* increase the risk of certain types of injury). But it's very much a matter of personal risk assessment (a few min with google should give you the relevant stuff), & how much you dislike helmets.