chadwebster

i have found that whenever i pick up a new "beater", and im done tuning it and cleaning it, i can no longer consider it a beater, and it ends up getting babied like the rest...

ptle

It depends on what you consider a beater.

My girlfriends Centurion was in pretty crummy shape. The owner actually WD40ed everything so it would look good. I gave it new bar tape, cables, tires, seatpost, and saddle. I also trued the wheels and regreased the hubs and bottom bracket. Oh and I also bought a $40 Tektro economy brake set. The bike is pretty nice and doesn't look as much as a beater anymore.

roadiejorge 

just remember it's a tool not a jewel and the rest takes care of itself.

DRietz

How do you keep beaters as beaters?

...you don't do that.

Daytrip

I know the feeling. My daughter has a beater bike that she uses to get around campus, and I keep upgrading it with better parts that I have laying around. It's still a crap frame and wheelset, but everything else is pretty nice. I'll be more bummed now if somebody steals it than I would have last year.

Take comfort in knowing that most people do just the opposite--they buy a relatively nice bicycle and then turn it into a beater.

AngryScientist 

i dont necessarily believe in the idea of a beater, nor do i believe in babying a bike. any bike i own, i take care of and maintain properly. i also ride my bikes, and dont knock myself out making them pristine. its not that hard to maintain a bike, keep it relatively clean, and the drivetrain lubed and clean.

shovelhd

Beat on it.

Blackdays

Kinky

byarmis

tagaproject6

They told him don't you ever come around here
Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear
The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it

You better run, you better do what you can
Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it

They're out to get you, better leave while you can
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it

You have to show them that you're really not scared
You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare
They'll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they'll tell you it's fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it

Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or who's right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it

Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or who's right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Just beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it

byarmis

Couldn't have done it better if we had tried

chadwebster

hahaha very good Mr. Tag.

Daytrip

I agree except that I think college campuses and sketchy parts of town are the exception.

Uni-Vibe

Ride it in Houston.

mazdaspeed

Ideally, a beater was $50 or less, ugly, and doesn't work perfectly. That way you can lock it up places and not care. For example the bike I rode to class in college:

scirocco

I know what you mean. I have a Ti frame that I don't ride (slightly too large, it's not that I don't like it) so I decided to build it back up as a rain bike. (Hey, Ti, perfect material for that, right?)

Then I saw a nice set of Ti bottle cages at Aspire Velotech that I thought would look good on it. So I picked them up.

At which point I realised the bike was really not a beater any more....

Retro Grouch 

OH DEAR!

You've definitely got the disease. There's no cure so you might as well just go with it.

KD5NRH

Same way you make a beater car into a "sleeper;" fix up all the stuff that matters for riding an nothing that doesn't, so it will still look like junk to the untrained eye. That way, you don't care if it gets scuffed and scratched, as long as the important parts work like they're supposed to.