@Criggie How would you buy your bikes if someone doesn’t sell them in the first place? It’s mostly because of off-road use that I wrap them, and because there are scratches that I don’t like (top tube when leaning the bike, locks,…). That being said, I don’t wrap the utility bikes.
Not my case but I was surprised that there were a people who were leasing bike (including race bikes used only on club rides). Don’t know the impact of scratches on the leasing closure, but that should also be a good reason to protect the bike as well.
(I knew that leasing was common for utility bikes, or those given by employer as part of a mobility package)
That being said, I don’t do wrap the bike for resale, but simply because I prefer that my bikes remain in good conditions, and wrapping is a fast enough process that is only done once.
Quite amazing: Pope John Paul II was a cyclist, while he was a cardinal (but maybe not during his papacy). Read the (funny!) article in the NYTimes by…. none other than Pope Francis.
@Rеnаud There might be tax breaks for this. Here people lease expensive sports cars (for fun) as it is actually financially favorable. It's also good for your credit score
@Sam7919 The original 3M helitape is basically invisible. The edges are a little visible, particularly if they peel off and dust collects on it (so be careful to avoid that).
@Erlkoenig There is are tax breaks for companies, not for private persons. And the residual value is about 10%-15%, so it’s unlikely to cost less overall. But for the leasing providers, it can be a way to avoid providing credits.
@Rеnаud There can be a tax break if it is part of your salary, basically your employer pays for part of the leasing-rate (with less tax than regular income tax). This is primarily intended for utility bikes but actually you can do it with any bike
Works with everything that is legally a bicycle, including cargo bikes, road bikes, MTBs, velomobiles...
@Michael Lol, what do you expect! He was a bishop/cardinal/pope. Merely being "an athlete on a bicycle" is fantastic. Do you how dour some people in the clergy can be? (I do.)
But to prove the point, here is an excerpt from that article.
"How well I understand him. And John Paul II was much the same. In the preliminary sessions of a conclave, when he was still Cardinal Wojtyła, an older and rather severe cardinal went to rebuke him because he went skiing, climbed mountains, and went cycling and swimming. The story goes something like this:
“I don’t think these are activities fitting to your role,” the cardinal suggested. To which the future pope replied: “But do you know that in Poland these are activities practiced by at least 50 percent of cardinals?” In Poland at the time, there were only two cardinals."
@Erlkoenig My remark applies to Belgium. I won't get into the detail, but if an employer gives something to an employee for private use in Belgium (phone, laptop, car, bike...), the tax base is raised (so the employee pays more taxes), the employer registers and deducts the expenses (so pays less taxes). Of course it works because the employees pays less taxes overall like this compared to the employer paying the "expenses" as salary.
I'm legitimately tempted to apply for this bike mechanic job. https://www.seek.co.nz/job/80762272? One of their side perqs is that you're paid to commute to work by bike.
And to be fair, for an overwhelming number of cyclists, their components are completely opaque bits of magic. I can imagine him pulled over on the side of the road and experience/well-meaning cyclists stopped to ask if he needed help. Your coworker explained that his brakes were acting funny. The helpful cyclists took a look and noticed fluid coming out of the master cylinder. Your coworker latched on to that and is reaching out for help and trying to as unimposing as possible
Turns out the cover on the reservoiur was asploded.
So I'm not sure if the cause was impact damage, or over-pressure from inside
Rider did say he "topped up the brake fluid" about 6 months ago
This is shimano so definitely mineral oil, not DOT brake fluid
No idea if that was a contributing factor or if he has just mis-remembered the fluid.
Noteworthy, on the inside of the reservoir I saw beads that looked like water. Again, not sure of the cause.
TEMP FIX was to move the rear caliper to the front wheel -- rider was sure he has another brake at home to fit rather than go buy one at the shop over lunch time.
