I can't say I'm happy with Cycle King in Croydon. This is, I have to say, unusual, as normally the service is very good, but not earlier this week. The reason I was paying a visit to the store was simple: I'd set about fixing on my new saddle, but messed up completely, sending bits of metal falling to the floor and then wondering how the hell to fix the new saddle on to the seat post. It wasn't going to happen, I knew that much, so I picked up all the bits, put them in 'Matt's Biscuit Tin' - a secret Santa present from work - and rolled down the road on the bike, which didn't have a saddle. For most of the short journey I stood up on the pedals, walking bits here and there, and eventually reached the store.
The guy behind the counter took the biscuit tin, I explained my dilemma and said I'd be back in around half an hour. I walked into central Croydon, took a brief look at the books in Waterstone's (to be honest, I needed a wazz and couldn't stand still for long) and then walked back towards South Croydon where Cycle King is based.
When I arrived at the store I found the bike resting against the wall and was, I has to be said, a little concerned. Normally, when I leave the bike with the repair guys, they give me a little slip of paper so that nobody else walks in and takes my bike. This time they didn't do that, the whole thing was done on trust, so it was odd to see my bike just resting against a wall. Literally anybody could have walked away with it. Closer inspection was even greater cause for concern. The saddle had been fitted at a strange 10 degree angle pointing downwards. Now, Cycle King in Croydon has a lot of bikes for sale and they're displayed in rows all around the place, it's a big store. None. I repeat. NONE!!!!! of the bikes have their saddles pointing downwards at an angle of about 10 degrees. None of them. So why mine? "Should it be pointing down like that?" It was a straightforward question from yours truly. The man who fixed it answered. "Yes, that's right," he said as I grabbed the bike and noticed that the saddle was also pointing slightly to the left and not exactly straight ahead in line with the crossbar. I loosened the seat post and straightened the saddle and then left the store. "Nice saddle," said the man, I thought a tad sarcastically.
I rode home, but I wasn't happy. I knew something more needed to be done and that I'd have to do it. When Andy and I rode to Westerham yesterday he noticed it immediately and said I needed to make a simple adjustment. But there's no such thing as a simple adjustment in my world and I envisaged the plates and bolts securing the saddle falling apart and hiding from me in the garage. Andy assured me it was only a case of loosening the front and tightening the back so on Sunday's ride, Sunday being the 29th December, I brought the Alun keys with me and fixed it on the green, making sure I'd taken the above photograph to tweet on Twitter later. It's fine now.
We rode the slow way to the Tatsfield Bus Stop where there was chat about luminous overshoes from Andy because he suffers from cold feet during the winter. I've found a simple cure: normal leather shoes. My Jeremy Corbyns are on their last legs and I'm now using them as walking shoes, gardening shoes and now cycling shoes and, by and large, my feet remain fairly warm.
The ride was painless, although I'm not a fan of Beddlestead Lane as you know. I think it's worse than the hill coming out of Westerham. After tea and teabag flicking (for a change, I put in a fairly decent performance) we headed for home, Andy branching off at The Ridge and me sailing down the 269, which wasn't that busy due to the Christmas holidays. Andy has no holiday left and is having to work all but the public holidays so we won't meet again until 2020 (weather permitting). I'm going to try to pluck up the enthusiasm to ride mid-week.
The guy behind the counter took the biscuit tin, I explained my dilemma and said I'd be back in around half an hour. I walked into central Croydon, took a brief look at the books in Waterstone's (to be honest, I needed a wazz and couldn't stand still for long) and then walked back towards South Croydon where Cycle King is based.
When I arrived at the store I found the bike resting against the wall and was, I has to be said, a little concerned. Normally, when I leave the bike with the repair guys, they give me a little slip of paper so that nobody else walks in and takes my bike. This time they didn't do that, the whole thing was done on trust, so it was odd to see my bike just resting against a wall. Literally anybody could have walked away with it. Closer inspection was even greater cause for concern. The saddle had been fitted at a strange 10 degree angle pointing downwards. Now, Cycle King in Croydon has a lot of bikes for sale and they're displayed in rows all around the place, it's a big store. None. I repeat. NONE!!!!! of the bikes have their saddles pointing downwards at an angle of about 10 degrees. None of them. So why mine? "Should it be pointing down like that?" It was a straightforward question from yours truly. The man who fixed it answered. "Yes, that's right," he said as I grabbed the bike and noticed that the saddle was also pointing slightly to the left and not exactly straight ahead in line with the crossbar. I loosened the seat post and straightened the saddle and then left the store. "Nice saddle," said the man, I thought a tad sarcastically.
 |
| Saddles shouldn't dip down like that, surely? |
We rode the slow way to the Tatsfield Bus Stop where there was chat about luminous overshoes from Andy because he suffers from cold feet during the winter. I've found a simple cure: normal leather shoes. My Jeremy Corbyns are on their last legs and I'm now using them as walking shoes, gardening shoes and now cycling shoes and, by and large, my feet remain fairly warm.
The ride was painless, although I'm not a fan of Beddlestead Lane as you know. I think it's worse than the hill coming out of Westerham. After tea and teabag flicking (for a change, I put in a fairly decent performance) we headed for home, Andy branching off at The Ridge and me sailing down the 269, which wasn't that busy due to the Christmas holidays. Andy has no holiday left and is having to work all but the public holidays so we won't meet again until 2020 (weather permitting). I'm going to try to pluck up the enthusiasm to ride mid-week.
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