In Which White is the New Black

The new basket on the bike Wednesday morning.

Francis is due for some maintenance. I have not had him tuned since RAGBRAI, and the derailleurs are getting slightly vague—in granny gear, they often have an unpleasant “chunk” as the chain does not perfectly align with gear. The brake shoes are probably also shot. The tread is totally worn off the rear tire, too.

But one thing Francis doesn’t need is a new basket, because I installed that already and rode to work with it on for the first time Wednesday.

The old basket was never tight enough, and thus rested against the front of the frame of the bike, sometimes making steering a bit iffy, and slowly eating away at the structural integrity of the basket itself as it seesawed back and forth. This week, the main supports of the basket finally snapped.

So Tuesday night, the wife and I headed out basket shopping. We were hoping the bike shop was still open, but no dice, so we headed out to Wal-Mart.

Where I bought the sweet white number you see. I at first didn’t want it—it looks to be of the same style as the black one it replaced—but if you will note, this one not only hangs on the handlebars, it also has a “third” leg that rests against the bike. This, I hope, will keep the white basket from sagging into the frame and being torn slowly apart.

We shall see.

Shifting the lights over took much longer than the basket install. But it was done in an hour or so, and so my black bike now comes with a white basket. Does that make it, on average, a grey bike? Maybe when I take Francis in, which will be soon, I will have to ask.

Another view of the new basket. The light underneath is attached with wire. I'm fancy, that way.