A customer in a tiny shop in Boise changed how I feel about cheap cable housing

He brought in a rattly old mountain bike, pointed at the housing, and said, 'I know it's junk, but it got me 800 miles home from Missoula when my car died,' which made me see it as a tool, not just a part.

4 comments

4 Comments

sage_green2mo ago

800 miles from Missoula on a rattly bike? That's a serious journey on what he called junk.

davis.noah2mo ago

I read a book about a guy who rode a similar old bike across Montana. He said the constant rattling became a kind of rhythm that kept him going. The frame might feel like junk at first, but on a long empty road, you start to trust the machine in a different way. It's less about the parts and more about the stubbornness to keep moving. That 800 miles from Missoula probably changed how he heard every squeak and rattle. The bike becomes a partner in the trip, not just a piece of equipment.

emma_flores2mo ago

Wait, 800 miles on a bike with bad housing? That's wild. The noise alone would drive me nuts. @davis.noah has a point about finding a rhythm in it, but man, my old commuter had a rattle once and I fixed it after two blocks. Can't imagine listening to that for days, every little creek and groan getting louder. That's some serious trust in a machine most people would have left on the side of the road.

taylor.reese6d ago

People get a little dramatic about these things. 800 miles on a noisy bike is definitely annoying, but it's not like he was crossing the Sahara. If the wheels were still spinning and the brakes worked, you can just turn up your headphones or start singing to yourself. I've driven cars with check engine lights on for longer than that trip probably took. Sometimes a rattle is just a rattle, not a sign the whole thing is about to fall apart.