More snappage
You probably don’t know because I don’t like to talk about it much but I have a pet hate when it comes to cycling kit.
It’s not white tyres or overpriced courier bags or cycling socks or carbon mechs.
No, the biggest rip off in the world of cycling, is handlebar mounts.
Lets say I buy a GPS, which of course will break after two months – as will the 3 replacements after it), and I want a handlebar mount to fix it to my bicycle. I have to go to a GPS shop and buy the exact, correct handlebar mount for that GPS, which will cost me ten quid. I can’t go anywhere else and they fucking well know it. It arrives and it looks, to my untrained eye, like a bit of moulded plastic with a screw in it. In fact it looks so much like the bit of mouled plastic with a screw in it that I got with my 4 quid set of commuting lights from Asda, that I have to go and check it’s actually different. It is, but only a bit, and obviously the GPS won’t fit it.
Of course, when it comes to high quality lights the same can not be true, surely…
Indeed, expensive light mounts are made from metal, whoopee fucking do. Obviously I have to pay extra, because it’s metal. It’s a *tiny* bit frustrating because I’ve just spent £250 quid on the light itself. It smarts just a tad that I then have to pay twenty quid for a handlebar mount. Twenty quid!!! It’s must be made out of Titanium! Nope, it’s made out of steel I think. It’s got a bolt, a little hinge a little knob and a spring! Well worth it, eh? Plus at that price it’ll last a hundred years. After all, the ASDA commuting bracket has lasted over a year already and that gets the shit kicked out of it.
I pull on the knob (ooh eerr), and the end of the knob flies off, the spring jumps thirty feet to never be seen again and the knob comes off in my hand (I’m not even bothering with any more Finbar stuff). At least exposure (oops, I mentioned the manufacturer) (the GPS that broke 4 times was a Garmin HCX by the way) replaced it immediately, and this one worked when it arrived. Sweet!
Well, for one ride anyway, after that the light rattled around annoyingly until I learned to put a small strip of paper in between the light and the bracket. So, a happy 9 months of night riding was spent. I say 9 months but obviously this was mostly during summer so it’s probably seen about ten or fifteen actual rides. Which means it’s got a good 1000 more left in it.
PANTS!
I’m not bitter or anything. But it’s a huge great pile of smoking crap.
things that blow | admin | 
December 14, 2009 11:23 pm
3 Comments
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Subscribe
By donk, December 15, 2009 @ 9:48 am
I hate it when a good bit of kit is ruined by one cheap* ass part that lets down the whole thing. Will have to keep an eye on the bar clamp for my hopes, similar hinged design but plastic.
*until you need to replace it, then it costs a mint
By Nick, December 15, 2009 @ 1:28 pm
Twenty quid bought me a full set of Blackburn lights from Tim.
By trio, December 16, 2009 @ 6:45 am
I think the idea is that the clamp breaks not the light when you crash! Still annoying though!