Destroyer of Bikes
 

Do you ever have that one friend who is hard on bikes and you don't know why it is or what s/he does but always there is some part or another that is either breaking down or in need of adjustment?

I've known a few people that are hard on bikes or anything they use. One in particular that I currently still know is a large person and has a combination of clumsiness and unawareness of their own strength. That person really needs an umbrella insurance plan to cover everything they break.

My color blindness makes it hard to see some obstacles on the road as there is very low contrast especially at high speed, so I think I run over more things than normal, I am literally "hell on wheels".

I’ve had quite a few friends, family & acquaintances that are like that. They will stomp on the cranks and push too high of gears leading to broken crankarms, or they will continue riding an out of adjustment bike that is clicking and making noises of protest, blowing off people who suggest they should pause for a moment to investigate the cause of the bad noise. These folks are not your folks who do their own wrenching. For whatever reason, they don’t really have the time or desire to know what minutia lies behind the cause of the malfunction. For them, this is why the LBS mechanic is who they trust most. To me that puts a lot of responsibility on a mechanic who may or may not remember your bike. I would prefer to dig deep myself to discern the why.

A buddy of mine is a destroyer but not because he is irresponsible. He used to trash rear wheels regularly because he thought being in the highest gear all the time was the only way to get any benefit from cycling. Once he learned that spinning and efficient use of gearing can be good too, his rear wheel problems are all but gone. Now, his problems are related to his hearing difficulties. Even with hearing aids, he can't hear the audible warnings coming from his bike. Can't fault him for that and he appreciates when I try to listen for him whenever we get a chance to ride together.

I have one friend that seems to break something every couple of rides. I started carrying more than my usual multitask when he is along, and the most recent failure was his headset having about half an inch of play halfway through a century ride in the middle of nowhere.

I used to be pretty rough on pedals and rear wheels. I'm not sure why. I'm not heavy and the roads around here are not that bad. Buying better replacement equipment has helped.

I used to kid the neighbor across the street when he had his broken Honda Civic up on blocks repairing it again and again. I told him that he could break an anvil. I had a nice old steel Bianchi that got killed by a car. The frame was toast, so I got an aluminum Nashbar frame and transferred the parts from the busted Bianchi. It just wasn't the same, so I sold it to the neighborhood kid. He managed to a strip the BB threads, and break the aluminum seat post, neither of which ever gave me any problems. He's grown up now, and a father of twin girls. Hopefully he is done breaking things.

Brother-in-law. Everything he owns is scratched, bent, or broken. Everything. Some people are like that.


-Kedosto

This has been the subject of a bunch of threads, but I very much like to ride in the high gears, and am much less efficient spinning in lower gears. While it's true that I wear out different gears on the cassette, it does not cause problems with the cranks, which I put thousands of miles on with nary a problem. My chain may wear a little bit faster, but otherwise, I think that's nonsense.

Forty five years of riding like that, and I've never once broken a crank arm.

When someone other than myself breaks my stuff, I always notice it more. :)

Spinay70

I have a friend who is composed of 280 lbs of muscle waiting to explode. He bends handlebars, snaps chains, and rips derailleurs from their mounts. I have seen and repaired all of these and more. A beast, he.

I don't have any friends, so no.