may not look like much

After a pop to and rootle through the drawers of the Bike Station, I now have a modern-style rail-holding seatpin (which was eventually persuaded to fit with the aid of a mallet (also used, whilst I had it out, to unstick the stem and allow it to be raised slightly and straightened up)), a modern-style but still uncomfortable and temporary (though less temporary than its predecessor) saddle and extra brackets to allow three lights to be ported between bicycles in the blink of an eye. One further light is usually attached to the helmet and a further light will be attached to the rack, when I devise a means of attaching the bracket to the rack in a way which allows the use of both panniers and child-seat without occluding the light. A fresh tyre to replace the worn rear arrived this morning, unfortunately not accompanied by the mudguards which were ordered an evening before the tyre. When the mudguards arrive the tyre will be swapped and everything will be almost finished. Now that the light-brackets have rendered it properly night-capable I took it for a spin round the cobbliest streets in the immediate vicinity to confirm its greater ability to withstand them without lots of rattles, going very slowly and wishing I'd chosen a different route. Once upon a time I briefly had a job which sometimes involved using Gloucester Lane; that was fourteen years ago and I've rarely cycled it since due to the feeling that it must be causing irreparable harm to all the components it was making rattle. No such problem this evening, nor with Eyre Place (which I usually avoid unless I really can't be bothered with Canonmills) nor Scotland Street (another reason why I seldom use the Rodney Street tunnel) nor Howe Street (which I sometimes take instead of the rutted and be-holed Dundas Street, forgetting that Howe Street is cobbly) nor the west bit of Heriot Row, East London Street, Drummond Place nor St. Bernard's Row. The saddle definitely needs replacing (but for £4 for seat and seatpost it at least got me moving today) but when properly-saddled and fully-mudguarded my only problem will be the weirdly wide handlebars, which are much more of a pain to manoeuvre through the hall than the discreet drops of normalbike.