Plaidophile

So yesterday I took it to Performance, and the tech found the shard of glass in the tire that was causing the flat, and he removed it, replaced the tube, and charged $15. And then I got the same goddamn flat.

EIther there were two shards (he did stop looking when he found one) or I managed to pick up yet another one last night. Either way, this stupid bike is costing me way more than a BART or bus commute, and both of those end up giving me just as good of a workout what with all the walking at the endpoints.

So far, bicycling has cost me this much over the past 7 months:

• The Mongoose (stolen): $600 (incl. accessories)
• The "new" bike: $80
• Making it rideable: $30
• Added accessories: $70
• The lighting system: $200
• Replacement tubes: $15
• The "flat fix" service: $10

The cost of commuting by BART or bus every day: $3. With an average of 21 commuting days per month, that works out to $63/month, or about $440 during that time period (ignoring that during that time period I'd spent a good chunk of that on days that I couldn't ride due to stolen bikes, flat tires, heavy rain, etc., as well as vacations and so on). So, in effect, the "cheap" commute option has effectively cost me well over twice as much.

Also, BART/bus commutes have another advantage in that I can listen to music and read books during most of the time (and the time taken is usually only 10 minutes more).

So, time to look into getting an EZ Rider card and/or find out what the deal is with the various bus pass options.