Living in Bath can be a pain at times. For example, when owning a bike and living in a small flat (which is pretty much everywhere in Bath), where do you store your bike?
Outside? I didn’t want to leave my bike outside. Not only would it be at greater risk of being stolen but also at the mercy of the elements and would soon rust up no matter how well it was covered.
Communal hallway? This would obviously be the preferred option as there’s plenty of room here, especially tucked out of the way under the stairs. Unfortunately, someone had already tried that with their bike and got a polite “Leave your bike outside!” note from a neighbour!
So somewhere in the flat it is then. Bikes are bigger than I thought, with the wheels attached, but what if I take the wheels off? Boom!
The shelving unit is actually a modified IKEA wardrobe which now fits pretty perfectly into an otherwise awkward size cupboard.
However, removing the wheels from a bike with hydraulic brakes introduces another problem:
If someone pulls the brake levers while the rotor is not between the brake pads then the pads clamp shut meaning you can’t get the wheel back on! I’ve learnt this the hard way, twice.
My brother had just visited from Australia and left a 20 cent coin behind. This happened to be the exact same thickness of the disc brake rotor! So I stuck the coin between the brake pads and secured it in place with a bit of tape. Perfect! (A 2p coin is almost as good and was used on the rear brake).
Now my bike can sit happily in the cupboard without getting rusty, offending the neighbours or the pads clamping shut, all while making decent use of otherwise wasted space. Win win!
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