First, I wish my readers a happy and healthy 2009.

And now let’s talk about my Kronan bike. Especially about how much I like the bike, although many other people think different about my bike. The “real” Kronans from World War II were known to be sturdy and somewhere in the end of the 90’s some clever students reintroduced the Kronans. The first series of Kronan bikes where not sturdy at all actually, but a few years ago they started making new series which should be much better/sturdier. And I think my bike is from the older series.

I bought it in January last year and have repaired already half of the bike:

– saddle pin broke (was welded, had to buy an iron-saw to remove part of the pin and used a dremel to remove parts of the welding, which I didn’t succeed in)
– bike store owner refused to repair the saddle
– completely new front wheel (or back wheel, so much is happening with this bike that I forgot it)
– dynamo malfunctioned after a while (I have LED-lights now, with rechargable batteries)
– one pedal is slightly out of balance (10%)
– two times a flat tire
– repumped the last several months once a week my front wheel
– yesterday the front wheel gave up and I found a big hole in the front wheel
– pump-holder dop stolen/broken
– slowly oxidizing, but not that bad
– several crashes with other bikers in the city

But, the frame is still there and me too. And I really like the bike, it cycles very smooth – although that may sound strange. Today I bought some new parts online – you can’t find them in the usual bike store. So I hope to start repairing my bike this weekend or next week. I was thinking about buying an other second hand bike or even buying a new series Kronan bike, but I will give my current Kronan a try this year and a new Kronan will only be the case when we have a shed to put it in.