Originally Posted by
Blue_Bulldog
I work on my bike a lot.
One, because she's my only mode of transportation and having her in tip top at all times, well that's just common sense. It's like keeping oil changed in a car. Difference being, a car has more automated systems, and a bike, you have to do a little more manual maintenance. For two, I happen to like my bike a lot. I put a lot of work into her to get her just the way I like, and I take pride in that. When I go somewhere, I don't want to be squeaking or creaking, or grinding chains. I don't want her looking like a piece of junk.
I had this roommate at the last place I was staying, who would break my onions all the time about how much I'd work on my bike. He'd make cracks like I was working on it "like it was a chopper or something" and that he saw my bike upside down more than right side up (which is a lie). I've had other people make comments like "If you're working on it so much, why don't you get a newer, nicer one?" and I have to explain I'm not fixing, I'm maintaining. And anything I'm fixing, is when my bike is in anything less than perfect working order. But I know there's lots of people who don't do that much.
How are you fellow Car Free/Light folks on this? How often to you work on your bike? How often do you leave the house with chain grease under your nails? Is it a chore or a pleasure? Chime in.
Riding a bike is a mostly utilitarian experience for me, but the aesthetic part is important, too. I'm not quite a maintenance geek, but I do try to take care of things. I clean and lube my chain about once a week. In the winter, I clean the rims at the same time I'm cleaning the chain. I ride about 70-100 miles/week, and I replace the brake pads about three times a year, the chain about once a year, and the rims about once every 18 months. I can tolerate some noise from the contents of the panniers, but generally, any kind of odd noise, especially from squealing brakes, is completely intolerable to me, and I will not rest until I can figure out a way to quiet things down. Recently, my new Brooks saddle started making creaking noises, and I seriously considered getting rid of it before I managed to solve the problem. Sometimes I suspect I'm being a bit fussy, but at the end of the day it's way more rewarding to ride a well-maintained, high-quality bike than it is to ride a rusting, squeaking piece of Sh*t.