Arthur Changes Gears

Summary
Arthur finally saves enough money to buy the bike of his dreams, then discovers that it is much too nice to actually ride.

Plot
Arthur has plastered his walls with paper cutouts. D.W. remarks that he is obsessed. Title Card

Arthur's parents have promised him an expensive bike, the GX Trailblazer 10.000, provided he raises half of the money himself. Buster wants him to come to the movies, but Arthur is cutting all expenses.

Over the following weeks Arthur does lots of odd jobs for money and does not go to the Sugar Bowl or the movies.

Eventually he has the money together. He and Buster see a car thief on the Bionic Bunny Show and Buster warns him, that someone might steal his expensive bike.

Arthur gets the bike and is envied by Buster, Brain and Francine. Just as he wants to try out the bike, a passing truck splashes mud on it. To protect the bike, Arthur pushes it home.

At night he's so worried about the bike being stolen, that he puts all sorts of chains on it. Eventually he puts it in his room to keep it save.

When the other kids meet with their bikes at the park, Arthur arrives on foot, claiming that he is saving the bike for a special occasion. The others try to convince him that a proper bike should have a few “battle scars”.

At night Arthur is visited by the “Ghost of Bicycles Never Ridden”. He shows Arthur how Mrs. Read washes china plates she never uses, Mr. Crosswire has a Rolls Royce in his garage he never drives, and Prunella has boots she never wears and that will soon be too small for her. When Prunella recognizes the ghost as the former “Ghost of Lunch Tomorrow”, the ghost quickly takes Arthur to the future where a much older Arthur finally sits on the bike, only for it to fall to pieces. Arthur wakes up screaming.

The next day Arthur's friends are impressed by a mountain bike rider who turns out to be Arthur. They start a race.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Francine Frensky
 * Binky Barnes

Minor

 * Pal
 * D.W. Read
 * David Read
 * The Brain
 * Prunella Deegan

Cameo

 * Jane Read
 * Norman Hedgehog
 * Muffy Crosswire

Trivia

 * This is one of the three episodes that focus on bikes. The other two are "D.W. Rides Again" and "Binky vs. Binky.
 * Moral:there is no point in getting a bike if you don't use it.

Cultural References

 * In the beginning, D.W. parodies "."
 * Brain's “Le Tour de Elwood City” refers to “Le Tour de France”.

Episode connections

 * The Ghost of Lunch Tomorrow (who is really just Binky in Arthur's imagination) returns in this episode as the "Ghost of Bicycles Never Ridden". He's wearing a bicycle outfit but still has a burger floating over his head. His first appearance was in "Prunella Gets It Twice," and she even recognizes him.
 * Francine mentions how she dented her bike while she was racing to the Mighty Mountain bowling tournament. This could be the tournament seen in "Francine's Split Decision"; however, in that episode we do not see her damage her bike. She is only seen getting her dress caught in the bike.

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur: Season 10
 * The Good Sport

Screenshots
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