Took my steel single speed out for a ride this morning. At one point, I realised that I was going to go close to Balfe's (cycle shop in Crawley, at the old Evans Cycles, highly recommended). I know I need a new bottom bracket so I detoured slightly and dropped in to see if I could book the bike in.

They took it off my hands there and then! Oops. Hadn't expected this at all. Bus ride home... 🤣

While at it, they are going to do a few other things for me, including new pedals as the old ones are completely warped (previous owner must have had quite a few falls).

#BikeTooter #SingleSpeedBicycle #Crawley #Balfes

So life sometimes has its own way. I normally go out for a ride first thing in the morning, aiming to cycle 20-25 km. This morning, it was miserable: grey, wet, not warm. So I chickened out.

Later, I realised I need to go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. Decided to cycle on my single speed charity bought bike (which I don't worry about getting nicked...). Pharmacy is 1 km away. Get there to be told that my prescription was dispensed somewhere else. Cycle there: another 3-4 km and it started raining heavily. Oh well. But I got my prescription so success.

On the way, however, I noticed that my crank is loose but I don't have the right tool to tighten it. Choice: go home, where I am not sure I have the right tool either, or cycle another 5 km to Balfe's to see if they can help on spec. Choose the latter and Balfe's do come to the rescue! And they charged me nothing to fix the bike. Chapeau to them.

Cycle home, now not raining.

All in all, about 18-20 km unplanned cycle ride today! Feel better for it even if I did get rather wet. 🙂

#BikeTooter #UKCycling #Crawley #Balfes

Took my (new to me) single speed bike for a 15 km loop around town. Fun! I love the freedom of not worrying about gear changes.

In getting the bike prepped (pumping tyres, adjusting seat height and angle), I found that the rear tyre was too big for the frame. I hadn't noticed this when I acquired the bike as the tyres were flat. So one of the stops along the ride was at Balfe's to pick up a more appropriate tyre! (doubled the value of the bike 😆)

The hills in town are more noticeable on this bike, I must admit 😜, but not terrible. Good exercise!

#BikeTooter #UKCycling #Crawley #Balfes