The Farce and The Furious

The trouble with trolls..

I met this dude who rides a China-made folding bike nearly a month ago when I organised a fun ride in Putrajaya.
He asked if a larger chainring could be added on his bike so that he could go faster.
This is where alarm bells rang...
The guy had his bike for more than a month.
I told him to take one thing at a time and that if speed is what he seeks, better get a road bike and be done with it.
Later, he joined a group ride I co-hosted in Ipoh. It was his longest ride.
Barely a week into that, the guy invested in a higher-end folding bike.

That's when all the farce began..

Hours into getting the new bike, the guy rode out with the local bike store owner who sold him his ride.
There were issues.
Creaks from the headset, and later, a chainslip which he claimed, nearly cost him his life.
I felt bad for the guy after hearing the problems.
This didn't end well when he couldn't register his new bike on the brand's website.
And in all this farce, an old-timer who took up cycling again on his folding bike offered help. Very generous of him.
Some issues were solved and the dude who bought his new bike actually said he regretted paying so much for the folding bicycle.
The bike store owner, on the other hand, made an offer to refund the guy. Which is fair because the bike is still very new.
Its tough luck for the cyclist to get a defective bike. Instead of taking matters onto a public forum and whining about it, thrashing the brand and making unsavoury remarks, the matter should can be settled amicably.
Way I see it, the new bike should be given time to run-in and small issues like creaks and chain-slips can be addressed with a tune-up.
Before you run, learn to walk and its ridiculous to run a marathon when you can barely jog.
Initially, I felt bad for the guy. But seeing as it is, the guy was not willing to forgive and forget. 

Let's move on and don't forget to have fun!

People come and go.
In a past-time such as cycling, going for speed and distance by pimping the bike is short-term.
I felt that the young man was too impatient and highly-strung about his minor issues on the new bike. It's under warranty and the right thing to do is to let the service dealer handle the problem.
But I guess the scar was too deep.
This is such a case when a person does not know how to have fun and places very high expectations.
So, that said, take a chill pill, relax and let time heal the pain. Just move on and let it go...