So the head tube on my upright aluminum REI Novara (circa 199ish) cracked last week (Actually it had been there a long time, but it finally started growing now that I've been riding it every day. I just started commuting regularly three months ago.) It's now hanging up in REI's bike shop waiting for corporate approval of the return of my initial investment.

I switched to riding my Linear Mach III Recumbent which is fine, although it's heavy and noisy. Fine. Everything's good.

Now it's Thanksgiving Break, my wife and daughter are away visiting family, and I thought I could get in some good mileage, just for kicks.

I rode around 14 miles yesterday. Today, I went on a ride and about 4miles out, the chain decided to abandon the crank and lasso my back tire and wrap around and pull apart the rear derailleur. Thankfully, the bike is the only thing broken, and a helpful citizen with a truck helped me get my bike home.

It's all fixable. But the real downer is that now, all I've got to ride is an old beater tandem or my wife's townie with an undersized frame (for me) and a crank maybe one size larger than my daughter's tricycle.

Is it just me, or do you get mad at your bikes when they go and break on you. I guess this is the kind of thing that will force me to become a better mechanic.

Sounds like a great [strike]excuse[/strike] reason to buy another bike.

I would get mad at my bikes when they break, but I'm afraid they'd start getting mad at me for being slow.

My REI bike kept breaking down, and I got mad enough to trade it for a used Cervelo. It's been much better to me.

Ha! Good one. I think they might get more mad at me for lack of routine maintenance. And, now I pay the price.

sounds like it's high time to buy yourself an early christmas present.

The new bike is coming one way or the other.

Ideally, I would like something like a Raleigh Port Townsend: steel frame, full fenders, and racks for my panniers.
Pragmatically though, I'm waiting to see what REI will do. It sounds like they will try to replace the frame if possible, but since it's an old model, they may be willing to give me a steel frame and fit my old components on to it. Another possibility, is that they will just give me store credit for the original price of the bike, and then I can buy one of their bikes. They've got Raleigh, but I'm looking at the Novara Randonee as well.

you have bad bike jew jew. You gotta love your bike... wipe it down and clean it. Talk to it.... pet it... ride it with care... love it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juju

chefisaac: You're probably right, sir.

I haven't held on a bike long enough to get to the break down part.

Getting married and having a kid, and buying a house puts a damper on the ol' bike buying budget, as well as the book buying, cd buying, dvd buying budgets. But, a new bike is definitely on its way. I solo rode my tandem today, just to get on a bike. H....E.....A.....V.....Y. I might still commute on it till I get my new set of wheels. We'll see.

That's the spirit. I was going to suggest the very thing.

Just think of it as training to really build up your legs. Once you get back on a single bike, you'll be dropping everyone!

Be very careful and cautious!!! You know what they say about things that come in threes. NOT wishing anything but better luck on you.
From what I have read, riding most tandems solo is kind of dangerous in any condition but a dead straight line. The Tandem people should be able to coach you on that.
Maybe, the Winter Coniferous Tree fairy will take pity on you and drop a nice reliable commuter bike from her boughs.

Tandem people seem to think it's fine to ride solo. Lots ride their kids somewhere, drop them off, and then ride on home or to the office or wherever. I've been on it and it's been fine. My commute's mostly flat till the end. I may end up walking up the hill. We'll see. My wife is going to think I'm nuts, but as sappy as it sounds, I love riding my bike to work.

I used to commute on my tandem all the time. It was my most bulletproof bike, just made sense

Another bikes doesn't have to be NEW!! IMO, getting a couple used bikes would solve the problem in giving you more spares, and wouldn't hurt the budget.. Just sayin

Ride the tandem, but put a dept store mannequin on the back. Make sure it's donned in spandex and a helmet. At a busy street corner stop and verbally assault it for not pulling its weight.

Ha! That would be awesome. Personally I would dress him up as Darth Vader.

N + 1

Do it. NOW.

Merry Christmas to you!

I've only got one bike, so if that happened I'd be screwed!

This is why I use a 2 bike commuting system. Also, 3 more can be set-up in relatively short order. Nothing is more frustrating than having some sort of component or accessory failure in the middle of a commute. It's one of the reasons I rarely do recreational rides, anymore. Having gone car-lite this summer it doesn't make sense to drive my bike 100 miles rt to do a 50 mile group ride.

With TG Holiday wrapping up, I had to get out. So I hauled out the tandem, put on a rack, took off the stoker seat and handlebars, and went for a long ride (for me....on a heavy ass tandem). 33 miles round trip and I feel great.

Think that tandem is heavy? Ride a Dutch bike sometime. And Dutchies go everywhere on them.