Tomorrow I am in for another trip in a borrowed car....but don't fret dear bikey people, its for the best of causes.
We are driving to the bike shop to pick up Ollie's new bike and MY BRAND SPANKING NEW bike!!!!
But first a little background.
Ollie's bike, although a good make, is shite. The twist gears are so tight on the way back up that his dad can't move them, so anytime he sets off for a long ride he basically sticks to 2 gears, not ideal when you want to make the whole thing as pain free as possible.
Kim talked to the bike shop guy yesterday and we learnt a few interesting things.
Bikes brought cheap over the Internet, even top names, are not worth the bother. The parts are significantly cheaper than the bikes they send to dealers, hence the low price.
Trail gators are rubbish. In fact he said he would not stock them because when he did people brought them back because their kids got scared because the connection was so wobbly, and the whole thing made cycling dangerous.
He suggested the half bikes that are designed to clip onto the adult bike, but are much more stable and as they are designed for the job there is no compromise.
Anyway, Ollie's new bike has gears that slide round the handlebars like they've been greased up, he is in Love with it. Kim looked around all the bikes in the store that the guy had put together, all the gears were fluid and easily managed.
For a comparison he popped into halfords to check out their (cheap) bikes. He said the gears were the same as Ollie's old bike, stiff, even for adult hands.
So tomorrow we are taking the old bike in and having the gears replaced so that Owen can have that bike, picking up Ollie's bike and choosing mine.
By the time we have paid for all this (kitting out 5 of us in one way or another) we will have spent about the same amount of money as we have on the (still not running) land rover sat on the yard.
Once upon a time this would have worried us, but hell, if your going to to it may as well do it right or whats the point?
Also, barring a huge wipe out on a bike, most things on it can be replaced or fixed easily and cheaply.
And best of all, no road tax or insurance, so its still a pretty good deal ;)
And no money spent on gas and the great added benefit of outdoors exercise!
ReplyDeleteWhat will you guys do when the weather turns bitter cold and snowy? I've tried biking in the snow/ice and found it darn near impossible!
We are not there yet ;)
ReplyDeleteStay tuned ..it might turn into the "caved and brought the biggest damn car they could family" XD
Seriously, We have a land rover OH is working on, this should see us right on the days we absolutly HAVE to get somewhere and can't for whatever reason.
Snow is ok..we just hunker down and say fek it...its ice I don;t like..I look back on my biking days in my teens and early 20's when it was my only mode of transport and I HAD to get to work (horses eh ;), many a horrible creep over the icy lanes.
In all honesty though so far it has saved us a TON of money..I do a little childminding when school is in..brings in a modest £50-60 a week...I turned round yesterday and realised I had 3 weeks worth of money in the house!! Un-heard of pre-bike..guess where it all used to go?? Fuel...it used to slip out of my fingers so quick it burned lol. We are getting a lot more used to deciding wether we REALLY need to go to the shop and get something and 9/10 we don't.
Anyway GREAT to see you back...hope the big horse is doing great and you had a fun summer :) x