Theseus's bicycle

every time i take my bike in for a repair that i imagine will take just a few minutes, it turns out to need some part entirely replaced and cost more than a fifteenth-hand shitty student bike. like two years ago i had a flat tyre and needed a whole new inner and outer tyre, which together were probably worth more than the rest of the bike. this time my chain had come loose and the mechanic took one look at it and said that it was all rusted through and needed to be replaced, along with one of the gears. i don't even like that bike.