Eleanor is Unwell

Eleanor the Bike that is. Eleanor II strictly speaking. I dropped her off at a small bike shop in Whitechapel this morning to have a brake service, as they were becoming a little dodgy. OK, extremely dodgy. That in itself isn't going to be any great expense, but the guy then took a look at her and started pointing out other things (chain, block, pretty much everything bar the frame could do with looking at it appears). Bottom line appears to be that dealing with everything that needs doing could well cost almost as much as buying a new equivalent, certainly more than she and her predecessor each cost (I picked them up second hand from a bike-hire shop in Jersey that habitually sold off its hire stock after the summer season each year). Bah humbug. Am thinking about it. The guy seemed fairly reliable, I don't think he was trying to get me to spend money he didn't think was genuinely necessary, and this one has done a year and a half for me and a season of touring hire before that (and then sat around in the shop for a while before I bought it).

She's named after Eleanor of Aquitaine. There is a reason why my bikes are named after Eleanor of Aquitaine but it's obscure, complicated, and not very interesting.