{"id":386,"date":"2007-07-16T17:55:19","date_gmt":"2007-07-16T17:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/wp\/?p=386"},"modified":"2013-03-07T17:47:37","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T01:47:37","slug":"philippines_bicycle_hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/philippines_bicycle_hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines Bicycle Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Or more specifically: How to Buy a Used Road Bike in Manila. A set of instructions.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7147.jpg\" alt=\"View of the handlebars while riding\" \/><br \/>\n<em>View of my new used bike riding a street somewhere in Quezon City, Metro Manila. It veers right without hands but otherwise pretty great.<\/em><br \/>\nSpend two months spanning half the country asking everyone you meet where to buy a used bicycle. Give up looking.<br \/>\nGoogle &#8216;philippines cycling touring ride bicycle travel buy bike used shop&#8217;. Give up looking.<br \/>\nAnswer a two-page email interview and three-stage sign-up process to join the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philippinecycling.com\/\">Yahoo Philippines Cycling Network Group<\/a>. Post greeting and message looking for riding friends and advice. Get no response for one week.<br \/>\nLose track of Yahoo Group credentials. Repeat sign-up procedure. Post message about wanting to buy used bike. Get responses for new bikes but no used ones.<br \/>\nBegin extensive email exchange with excellent photos from Yahoo Group member Joash who contacts you with details about his old touring-style bike in Manila.<br \/>\nWork extra two weeks on your internship in the North but continue to promise Joash that you will check out his bicycle &#8220;any day now.&#8221;<br \/>\nArrive in Manila and check out bicycle. Start to realize how many extra things you and the bike need to ride around Asia for five weeks. Spend half the day with Joash going to bike stores getting parts and repairs done.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7157.jpg\" alt=\"A large bulge in the front tire\" \/><br \/>\n<em>The original tire. It blew halfway back to Joash&#8217;s house with no spare.<\/em><br \/>\nSpend next half of day in another Metro Manila City and 12 different bike stores finding and not finding the following things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bottle cage (P120)<\/li>\n<li>&#8216;alloy&#8217; frame pump (P150)<\/li>\n<li>Presta valve adaptor (P20)<\/li>\n<li>Tire levers (P80)<\/li>\n<li>&#8216;Japanese&#8217; patch kit (P70)<\/li>\n<li>Cable lock (P200)<\/li>\n<li>Allen key set (P130)<\/li>\n<li>Cardboard bike box (where?)<\/li>\n<li>700&#215;28-28c tubes and tires (where?)<\/li>\n<li>Rear rack (of even minor quality where?)<\/li>\n<li>Downtube shifters with frame clamp (where?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7166.jpg\" alt=\"Bike store receipts\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Receipts form the six stores that actually had what I needed. A typical scenario: spend 46 cents on a presta valve adaptor with help from three of the six young female employees who will then provide a hand-written receipt for it. <\/em><br \/>\nSpend half what the bicycle cost buying bike parts and the five taxi trips to find them.<br \/>\nGive directions back to your host home area that no one has heard of to a racist sex-obsessed cab driver. Get off when conversation and directions get worse. Begin exchanging 18 text messages with host family how to find you \/ them.<br \/>\nArrive home after dark. Write report about buying a used bike in Manila. Sleep.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7148.jpg\" alt=\"Joash riding in traffic wearing his helmet\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Joash accompanies me to see his favourite mechanic. Note the dropbar on his back that I just couldn&#8217;t be bothered using in the end (see problems with STI shifters, cassette spacing, bar tape, replacing cables).<\/em><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7149.jpg\" alt=\"A mechanics hands replacing a bicycle deraileur\" \/><br \/>\n<em>It was either spend 1,000 pesos on tools or get Joash&#8217;s mechanic, Jaime, at Carlito&#8217;s Bike Shop in Quezon City, to wrench it for me at 40 pesos an hour. Here he swaps out the rear SIS-quality &#8216;roller&#8217; aka rear deraileur for a new, P650 Acera one. <\/em><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7150.jpg\" alt=\"View of bike store\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Carlito&#8217;s Bike Shop. About the size of a closet, with mechanics working on the sidewalk.<\/em><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7152.jpg\" alt=\"Bike store employees behind the counter\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Some of Carlito&#8217;s employees, or at least kids behind the counter.<\/em><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7154.jpg\" alt=\"The bike mechanic\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Adjusting the limiters (still goes into spokes at the back, off the big in the front).<\/em><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7156.jpg\" alt=\"Adjusting a bicycle bottom bracket with a nail and hammer\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Tightening the bottom bracket.<\/em><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/images\/journal\/CRW_7164.jpg\" alt=\"A Filipino man next to his bicycle\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Joash, 27-year-old triathalon racer, with the bike he sold me. He says he already started to really miss the bike but is happy it is going an adventure.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Or more specifically: How to Buy a Used Road Bike in Manila. A set of instructions. View of my new used bike riding a street somewhere in Quezon City, Metro Manila. It veers right without hands but otherwise pretty great. Spend two months spanning half the country asking everyone you meet where to buy a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[15,5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1242,"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions\/1242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffwerner.ca\/testa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}