Many years ago my dad decided to buy himself a new bike so he wandered into Halfords to pick one because that's what most people who, like him or me, aren't "real" cyclists do. I've often described myself as a utility cyclist who got led astray by the strange people on the internet! I don't remember what he bought and don't think he ever rode it much but I do remember the burgundy BSO he acquired for me as part of the BOGOF deal they were running at the time. I was about to move to Cambridge where my then-beloved had landed his first graduate job (which means it must have been 1997, I think) and dad reckoned it might actually be illegal to live in Cambridge and not have a bicycle 
I rode said completely free BSO for 13 years and even did the odd 40-odd mile trip on it before eventually it hit the point that so many bits wore out and needed replacing, at the same time, that it didn't make financial sense given that I pay the LBS to service my bikes and replacement chain/cassette/chainrings/brake blocks/tyres would cost more than buying a new equivalent BSO. Rather than doing that (this may have coincided with the leading astray...) I replaced it with the Very Lovely Valencia (my sturdy Trek hybrid who has got me round a fair number of Silly Bike Adventures, including a couple of FNRttCs) just over 6 years ago and donated the old one to the bike rescue in town. Spotted it (with a number of replacement parts) in a bike rack outside the coop a few weeks later so I guess they managed to fix it up and it went on to be someone else's getabouttown bike.
It was never a thing of beauty but it got me to and from work and shops and stuff around Cambridge/St Albans/York for years. The bike in the link looks fairly similar - although with fewer gears.
I rode said completely free BSO for 13 years and even did the odd 40-odd mile trip on it before eventually it hit the point that so many bits wore out and needed replacing, at the same time, that it didn't make financial sense given that I pay the LBS to service my bikes and replacement chain/cassette/chainrings/brake blocks/tyres would cost more than buying a new equivalent BSO. Rather than doing that (this may have coincided with the leading astray...) I replaced it with the Very Lovely Valencia (my sturdy Trek hybrid who has got me round a fair number of Silly Bike Adventures, including a couple of FNRttCs) just over 6 years ago and donated the old one to the bike rescue in town. Spotted it (with a number of replacement parts) in a bike rack outside the coop a few weeks later so I guess they managed to fix it up and it went on to be someone else's getabouttown bike.
It was never a thing of beauty but it got me to and from work and shops and stuff around Cambridge/St Albans/York for years. The bike in the link looks fairly similar - although with fewer gears.
counting in days rather than months or years!)
