wait a minute... "cycle stig" That is brilliant! I wish I'd thought of that username. I now want to get one of those "I am the stig" stickers for my bike. Of course I'll need the white racing helmet and jumpsuit as well.

Along those lines, one thing I learned from bicycle commuting was that bike maintenance can be quite enjoyable. About five years ago, I was quite a garage grease monkey, rebuilding cars was my hobby. With the growth of my family, and some changes in the career, I found myself with just one car in the family, and that was needed by my wife. So I very reluctantly picked up a cheap single speed on craigslist. I had contempt for bike mechanics, thinking they were way too simple to be any fun. However, I found I was able to find just as much enjoyment from bicycle assembly and tuning, as I did with cars. It was strange, but its that whole "Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance" mentality. It does not matter what it is, so long as its mechanical, and I can easily find my zen. The upside is bicycles are _LOADS_ cheaper than cars, so I can have all sorts of extra parts in the garage without too much pressure to liquidate them. I have also lost 20 lbs, since the "test rides" double as this crazy thing known as exercise. All in all, bikes seem like a much better hobby. Dont get me wrong though, I'll have my head under a '69 mustang should the bank account ever allow it. I am sure they'll just be a very nice Schwinn paramount next to it as well.

Also wanted to note, you went from a e-bike to single speed eh? Quite a leap, but good thinking. I commuted on a single speed for a year as well. I eventually put on an internal hub this spring. I was like: "Gears! What an amazing invention!" However, I am contemplating going back to the single speed, because my commute is almost too easy with gears, and... weirdly enough, even though I just have seven speeds,
the preoccupation with shifting just seems to take a lot away the simply joy of riding.