Crap. Crap bikes. Crap guitars. Turns out you can do a lot, or get a lot out of, crappy stuff. My crap bike died yesterday. The back axle just sort of disintegrated. Rust never sleeps. And well it's just a useless, rusted hulk now. I immediately found a replacement on Craigslist, no time to waste, I have to have a bike.
There is a guy in our neighborhood who collects, refurbishes and sells crap bikes. I bought the bike that died from him about 2 years ago for $25. I scored another crappy one from him for $55 yesterday. It's basically the same crap bike, but I didn't bargain with him, he's deaf and dumb, we communicate via text and sign language. Bargaining just didn't seem worth it.
Anyway, there's a whole market for crap bikes. And they do the job. Same thing with crap guitars. I own a couple. I mean, I love them, they are so crappy, they are cool. I mean Jack White has made a career out of playing crappy old guitars no one else valued. Of course, now people value them. Anyway, I have wheels, and i have guitars and their crappy-ness is sort of a style, and a badge of honor.