Who's there?

Sunday night on the way home i heard a loud rhythmic knocking sound from my rear wheel. I tried to see what the problem was, but the cold and the darkness convinced me to wait until i got home. At home i saw this:



The rim was cracked and jutting out, and the brake kept hitting it every rotation. My quick fix was to disengage my rear brakes - no more knocking sound!

Next day at the bike shop i was told this is what happens after prolonged use - even though they are only rubber, the brakes slowly wear away at the metal rim, first making a groove in it, eventually wearing it so thick that it cracks. In this case it cracked at the weakest point, right along the seam. Comparing my new rear wheel with my old front wheel is great - the front has a very nice concaveness to it whereas the rear wheel is flat.

$50 and 30 minutes later my bike was fixed. This makes a grand total of (approx) $80 i've spent on my bike this year. At 15 miles a day, $2 a gallon, and 15 miles a gallon, i'll have paid off this year's current bike expenditures in a couple more days.