Fixed wheel?

[igenlode]

I think (hope) the bicycle is finally fixed now, after yet another round of repairs; I did a twenty-mile shopping run today (a big pot of yoghurt, some chicken carcases to boil up for stock, two Scotch eggs (one for lunch), two big cartons of still lemonade in preparation for hot weather (of which I partook gratefully when I got back), and returning the empty honey jar while buying a new one) and had no trouble with either the gears or free-wheel. Of course it may be another false dawn.

Recorded mileage: 3664.8 (actual figure will be higher, since the odometer is still malfunctioning; it is now loose in its mount and sooner or later will fly off altogether).
Nearly nine hundred miles since last July.

Chapter 6 of "High City on a Hill" has received 14 hits on AO3.

Comments

[betweensunandmoon]

Is it possible to replace the odometer?

[igenlode]

Yes, it's just a little plastic computer unit with a magnet that attaches to a spoke on the front wheel to register how many times it goes round.
https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/9-best-cheap-cycle-computers-200543#mozTocId227237

It's a pain to fit the various bits onto the bicycle, though (involving some careful positioning of wires and attachment of cable ties), which is why the last time I bought a new one I discovered afterwards that the bike shop had simply re-used the old mount and wiring and slotted the new computer unit into it. Which means that the current wiring dates back to circa 2004, and unsurprisingly there is now a damaged wire in there somewhere that causes the signal to cut out until you notice and wiggle it...

Technically speaking it's easy enough to replace, if you can find a bike shop that stocks them. It just involves going out and obtaining new cable ties (unless you happen to be a bike shop with such things in stock), cutting the old ones, stringing cable up the front forks, and finding a position to fit the computer mount on the handlebars (I don't have straight bars, so the potential fixing points are quite limited). It's one of the many, many items I possess that is broken but still just about works, and which I have put off replacing until it gets to the stage where it is actually unusable (see: the shoes with holes all the way through the soles).

Apparently cycle computers now come in 'wireless' varieties, which cuts down on the number of cable ties but requires twice as many batteries (with twice the potential for failure).