Bicycles are a common sight on German roads, and I thought it would be useful to have one for fun or maybe the occasional need. Back in April when I was looking closely at one of my (then) future residences, the tenant offered to sell me her bike for 40 euros. She admitted that she had not ridden it for quite some time. The rusting chain and the broken seat told a clear story of neglect. But I thought, quite naively as it turned out, that they could be replaced quite easily and cheaply. The price was also hard to resist as a brand new no-frills bicycle would easily fetch 100 euros or higher! (How can every family afford so many bikes?) I accepted the offer in the end.
At that time, I was still staying at the on-site guesthouse of my research institute. The bicycle didn’t have much use and I did not have any tools handy. I thought I could wait until I moved into my current residence.
It was June when I moved, followed by uninterrupted good weather. World Cup matches, colleagues’ barbecues and weekend trips all conspired to keep me away from the bike. Then came autumn, more free time on weekends but still no motivation to do anything.
By the time my parents visited, my dad actually showed more interest in the bike than I did. That was time to do something! We went to buy a new seat, chain and some new tools, and changed the seat without too much trouble. The chain was trickier than we thought, however. After discussing with several colleagues, I decided to take the bike to our departmental workshop, to be fixed by our expert Mr. Gatz.
That was only the start of more problems.
Mr. Gatz found that our chain was slightly too wide to be fitted into the gears and told me to buy one from a proper bicycle shop instead. That was the day before my parents and I left for our short holiday. I went to the two closest shops; one was closed because the owner was sick, and the other one had folded! Hard to believe that a bike shop is out of business in Germany … So I had to park my bike in our basement and deal with it again after my holiday. I left the rusted chain on my desk as a reminder.
The chain slowly became a symbol of my perpetual procrastination.
When I had had enough of this eyesore, I could not remember. But one day about three weeks ago, I did buy a new chain and ask Mr. Gatz again for his help. I asked him to check the headlight and taillight as well. He hanged my bike on a support, and for the next couple of days the bike became a new exhibit that attracted much interest from the workshop. After spending a long time playing with the chain and pedals, he called me in and told me his diagnosis: the brake cables and brake shoes also needed replacing, while the dynamo was pronounced dead. More shopping, and more work.
By then, I only realised how much I have underestimated the difficulty of the whole repair job. I wondered how I could have managed without the professional set-up and comprehensive tool chest of the workshop, as well as the time, know-how and helpfulness of Mr. Gatz (plus his colleagues). Well, I could have sent the bike to a bike shop instead. However a shop might not have taken so good care for such a complicated task, but will definitely charge me a fortune! Mr. Gatz and his colleagues certainly deserved some nice presents for their good work.
Adding the cost of all the spare parts and the presents to the original price tag of the bike, and I could have purchased a decent, brand new bike – minus all the trouble.
Buying a cheap bike is not the sole cause of all the problems. Buying it from a right person would also have helped – only had I knew earlier that a colleague of mine, a keen cyclist living by himself, actually owns 3 bikes. (Why does he need so many bikes?) Surely he would have taken much better care of the bikes than the previous owner of my bike.
Now I know very well how to go about buying a second-hand bike, except I don’t think I need to do that any time soon …
四月時我仍四出找房子，其中一家的租客，有意以40歐元出讓其腳踏車。腳踏車在德國很普遍，我想買一輛當不時之需或做運動也無妨。租客坦言自己沒用腳踏車多時，生鏽的鍊、破爛的座椅正是明證，我當時還天真的想，換鍊和座椅倒不用花太多精神和金錢吧，況且買輛新車動輒要100歐元（1000港元）或更貴（究竟普通人家怎能付擔兩三輛？）那個價錢也挺吸引，買了回來才容後打算吧。
我當時仍住在研究所的宿舍，腳踏車沒太大用場，而且我甚麼器材也沒有，待我搬家後再處理也不晚。
到六月搬家時，正值世界盃，而且天公一直造美，看球賽、跟同事燒烤，以及旅遊，實在太吸引了，可憐腳踏車繼續遭冷待，就算到秋天時，珣麗歸於平淡後，我仍懶得理會那輛老殘車。
倒是家父比我更起心，看來他架到後，腳踏車有救了！我們買了新座椅、鍊和工具，換座椅總算輕易，換鍊卻難倒我們。我向同事請教後，決定把腳踏車帶回系內工場，請工場的大叔Mr. Gatz幫忙。
煩惱還陸續有來呢。
Mr. Gatz發覺鍊太寬，與車的齒輪不配，着我到腳踏車專門店買一條合規格的。那天剛是我和父母臨出發去旅遊的前一天，我一連撲了兩家附近的腳踏車店，怎料一家因東主生病不開門，另一家更關門大吉！（德國腳踏車這麼多也做不下去？）我惟有把腳踏車存放在地庫，待旅遊回來後再處理，我也把那條生鏽鍊放在辦公桌上提醒自己。
那條鍊就在我的桌上住了不知多久了。
直到三星期前某天，一直拖拖拉拉的我也終於嫌生鏽鍊剌眼，便動身再往腳踏車店，買了新鍊，然後再請Mr. Gatz幫忙，順道請他檢查車頭燈和車尾燈。他把我的腳踏車在工場半天吊起，這件展品，吸引一眾工友的好奇，祇見他不停把弄腳踏和鐵鍊，鑽研一番後，便給我「斷症」，原來剎車墊和剎車索也要更換，而且電動機也返魂乏術，我又要光顧腳踏車店了，而Mr. Gatz也得再花一輪功夫。
要不是這個「醫生」細心診症，我也不知自己原來一直低估問題有多複雜；要不是工場如此設備齊全、有專業的技術，要不是Mr. Gatz和其他工友技藝精湛又樂於助人，我也不可能化腐朽為神奇。當然我也大可把車送往腳踏車店修理，但人家又會否如此細心也說不定，工錢卻一定不會便宜。一眾工友功不可沒，送些禮固然應該也值得。
祇是把腳踏車原價，再加上配件及送禮的開支，也夠買一輛全新又不錯的腳踏車，而且還可免這堆煩惱！
回想整件事，「便宜莫貪」也不是最大的教訓，最重要的還是應該找個內行人接洽。就在腳踏車修理好那天，我才知道，有個愛騎車的同事，原來自己獨個兒住也擁有三輛腳踏車（究竟他為甚麼有這麼多？）找他買一輛，那輛車的保養總比我的好吧？
經此一役，我真的學會了買二手腳踏車，祇是下次不知是何時了。
At that time, I was still staying at the on-site guesthouse of my research institute. The bicycle didn’t have much use and I did not have any tools handy. I thought I could wait until I moved into my current residence.
It was June when I moved, followed by uninterrupted good weather. World Cup matches, colleagues’ barbecues and weekend trips all conspired to keep me away from the bike. Then came autumn, more free time on weekends but still no motivation to do anything.
By the time my parents visited, my dad actually showed more interest in the bike than I did. That was time to do something! We went to buy a new seat, chain and some new tools, and changed the seat without too much trouble. The chain was trickier than we thought, however. After discussing with several colleagues, I decided to take the bike to our departmental workshop, to be fixed by our expert Mr. Gatz.
That was only the start of more problems.
Mr. Gatz found that our chain was slightly too wide to be fitted into the gears and told me to buy one from a proper bicycle shop instead. That was the day before my parents and I left for our short holiday. I went to the two closest shops; one was closed because the owner was sick, and the other one had folded! Hard to believe that a bike shop is out of business in Germany … So I had to park my bike in our basement and deal with it again after my holiday. I left the rusted chain on my desk as a reminder.
The chain slowly became a symbol of my perpetual procrastination.
When I had had enough of this eyesore, I could not remember. But one day about three weeks ago, I did buy a new chain and ask Mr. Gatz again for his help. I asked him to check the headlight and taillight as well. He hanged my bike on a support, and for the next couple of days the bike became a new exhibit that attracted much interest from the workshop. After spending a long time playing with the chain and pedals, he called me in and told me his diagnosis: the brake cables and brake shoes also needed replacing, while the dynamo was pronounced dead. More shopping, and more work.
By then, I only realised how much I have underestimated the difficulty of the whole repair job. I wondered how I could have managed without the professional set-up and comprehensive tool chest of the workshop, as well as the time, know-how and helpfulness of Mr. Gatz (plus his colleagues). Well, I could have sent the bike to a bike shop instead. However a shop might not have taken so good care for such a complicated task, but will definitely charge me a fortune! Mr. Gatz and his colleagues certainly deserved some nice presents for their good work.
Adding the cost of all the spare parts and the presents to the original price tag of the bike, and I could have purchased a decent, brand new bike – minus all the trouble.
Buying a cheap bike is not the sole cause of all the problems. Buying it from a right person would also have helped – only had I knew earlier that a colleague of mine, a keen cyclist living by himself, actually owns 3 bikes. (Why does he need so many bikes?) Surely he would have taken much better care of the bikes than the previous owner of my bike.
Now I know very well how to go about buying a second-hand bike, except I don’t think I need to do that any time soon …
四月時我仍四出找房子，其中一家的租客，有意以40歐元出讓其腳踏車。腳踏車在德國很普遍，我想買一輛當不時之需或做運動也無妨。租客坦言自己沒用腳踏車多時，生鏽的鍊、破爛的座椅正是明證，我當時還天真的想，換鍊和座椅倒不用花太多精神和金錢吧，況且買輛新車動輒要100歐元（1000港元）或更貴（究竟普通人家怎能付擔兩三輛？）那個價錢也挺吸引，買了回來才容後打算吧。
我當時仍住在研究所的宿舍，腳踏車沒太大用場，而且我甚麼器材也沒有，待我搬家後再處理也不晚。
到六月搬家時，正值世界盃，而且天公一直造美，看球賽、跟同事燒烤，以及旅遊，實在太吸引了，可憐腳踏車繼續遭冷待，就算到秋天時，珣麗歸於平淡後，我仍懶得理會那輛老殘車。
倒是家父比我更起心，看來他架到後，腳踏車有救了！我們買了新座椅、鍊和工具，換座椅總算輕易，換鍊卻難倒我們。我向同事請教後，決定把腳踏車帶回系內工場，請工場的大叔Mr. Gatz幫忙。
煩惱還陸續有來呢。
Mr. Gatz發覺鍊太寬，與車的齒輪不配，着我到腳踏車專門店買一條合規格的。那天剛是我和父母臨出發去旅遊的前一天，我一連撲了兩家附近的腳踏車店，怎料一家因東主生病不開門，另一家更關門大吉！（德國腳踏車這麼多也做不下去？）我惟有把腳踏車存放在地庫，待旅遊回來後再處理，我也把那條生鏽鍊放在辦公桌上提醒自己。
那條鍊就在我的桌上住了不知多久了。
直到三星期前某天，一直拖拖拉拉的我也終於嫌生鏽鍊剌眼，便動身再往腳踏車店，買了新鍊，然後再請Mr. Gatz幫忙，順道請他檢查車頭燈和車尾燈。他把我的腳踏車在工場半天吊起，這件展品，吸引一眾工友的好奇，祇見他不停把弄腳踏和鐵鍊，鑽研一番後，便給我「斷症」，原來剎車墊和剎車索也要更換，而且電動機也返魂乏術，我又要光顧腳踏車店了，而Mr. Gatz也得再花一輪功夫。
要不是這個「醫生」細心診症，我也不知自己原來一直低估問題有多複雜；要不是工場如此設備齊全、有專業的技術，要不是Mr. Gatz和其他工友技藝精湛又樂於助人，我也不可能化腐朽為神奇。當然我也大可把車送往腳踏車店修理，但人家又會否如此細心也說不定，工錢卻一定不會便宜。一眾工友功不可沒，送些禮固然應該也值得。
祇是把腳踏車原價，再加上配件及送禮的開支，也夠買一輛全新又不錯的腳踏車，而且還可免這堆煩惱！
回想整件事，「便宜莫貪」也不是最大的教訓，最重要的還是應該找個內行人接洽。就在腳踏車修理好那天，我才知道，有個愛騎車的同事，原來自己獨個兒住也擁有三輛腳踏車（究竟他為甚麼有這麼多？）找他買一輛，那輛車的保養總比我的好吧？
經此一役，我真的學會了買二手腳踏車，祇是下次不知是何時了。
Comments
那你現在該多多用它囉
不要浪費人家的修理心机