You Get What You Pay For

Let me start out by saying that I consider myself to be a fairly thrifty person. So it came as a surprise to me when my 1977 Yama 10-speed started developing issues last Spring, I shelled out for a pretty nice bike (Trek 7.5 disk – swapped out the 7.3 frame because I liked the color better”). My wife encouraged me to go ahead with the purchase since I pretty much commute by bike full time now.

When it started to get dark for my ride home towards the end of October, I popped in to a local discount store and plopped down 20 bucks for the Bell Dark Flyer Bicycle Light Set.

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In retrospect, it was kind of like buying a Brooks Brothers suit and then buying a one dollar tie to go with it. (Okay, the tie was actually 98 cents and, coincidentally, also purchased in 1977).

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Last week the back light started developing some issues. In order to get the light to come on I would have to open it up and mess around with the switch. Friday night’s ride was a misty, nasty ride home and I found out that the rear light had died somewhere along the route home. It lasted just over two months.

Now, I consider myself to be pretty good at internet searches but for the life of me I couldn’t come up with a support contact for the Bell accessories, like this light. Thus, I didn’t even get the satisfaction of having someone say “Dude, it’s a ten dollar light, just go buy another one.”

So, should I go buy another disposable rear blinky, or should I spend more for something that will last me a few seasons? Any suggestions?

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