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kniteracyHere is a rare public entry with actual content, mostly because I want to email it to my sister for her help with cycle-choosing advice. It will very likely be marked friends only within the next seven days, because I'm weird like that.
In my family, September means we're already bandying about ideas for Christmas presents. I usually post a list sometime in October, but this year I'm getting my thoughts on record early, as it's going to be a different kind of year here.
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filceolaire already knows that all I want for Christmas from him is new wedding bands. Seriously, on a cooler day when my fingers feel smaller, they're already threatening to fall off my hand, and I must remove them now every time I wash dishes or do anything that will make my fingers slippery. Twenty more pounds, and it'll be dangerous to wear them at all for fear of losing them.
So, for the rest of the family (my definition), it's gonna be really simple this year. I want a new bicycle. I don't care if I get it slightly before Christmas or slightly after Christmas, but I want a good one. I intend to spend a lot of time cycling over the next few years, and J and I both could actually use new bicycles, to tell you the truth. My cheap used one has already developed a problem J's having trouble fixing, and J's cheap used one may or may not hold up over things like potential cycling holidays and the like. I don't care if you all get together in a mob and make a Harper Bicycle Fund, I don't care if you all just ooh and ahh over the photographs of bicycles I'm looking at. There is, as always, no obligation to contribute or buy anything. If you have advice to give, I'd love to hear it. Right now, I'm cycling back and forth to work every day and doing all of my day-to-day errands on the bicycle. I want to extend my range and expand my abilities, and I like input. :-)
What bicycle do I want? I've spent some time thinking on that, particularly since I had tosteal borrow G's when my back wheel went out of alignment and J couldn't fix it. Fact is, although G's bicycle is newer than mine, I don't really like it. Even with handlebar adjustments and a custom saddle, it doesn't feel right for me, and I miss my other bicycle. Now, since I've been riding his slightly taller bicycle, my muscles have stretched quite a bit and I might find my old one a bit too short for me; I don't know. But the most important thing I need to think about is the fact that this for us will be an investment, so I need to shop long and hard, every bit as hard as I'd shop for a car. I want to find the right bicycle for me.
I don't want a straight-up city commute bicycle. So if you're tempted to look at bicycles and suggest things to me (and there are hundreds of sites out there, so help sifting through them is always appreciated!), don't click on 'road bikes' or 'street bikes'. While I will be using my bicycle to get from point a to point b, I also want to use it for longer weekend rides or even cycle holidays that will require a more versatile machine. I'm looking primarily at hybrid bicycles but I understand mountain bikes are less expensive overall. Just because you can ride a bicycle off the street doesn't mean you have to only ride it off the street, and lots of London cycle commuters use mountain bikes. The other thing I really don't want is a folding bike. While it might be really cool to be able to take a bicycle on the Tube at rush hour, most folding bicycles have a very small wheel base and require a lot of work. Also, I am a little bit afraid of them. Word on the street (well, OK, the web) is that unless you get a really expensive, slick folding bicycle, the foldy bit of it is likely to be fiddly at best. I'm also convinced, though I've been riding straight crossbar bicycles, that I will prefer a woman's model, because of the easier step-through. That said, I have got used to throwing my leg over G's tall bicycle, and I think I'll need to take a women's model out for a spin before I'm sure on this point. After all, the only thing you can't do on a man's bicycle is ride gracefully in a skirt-- and I don't really wear a lot of skirts. But you never know what the future will bring, and I want as much freedom as I can get!
While I want a good bicycle, I don't want a flashy bicycle, because bicycles are very attractive to thieves. And, in London, just locking your bicycle to a post isn't going to save you from theft. All you have to do is walk around and be observant and you'll see bicycle skeletons everywhere, where clever thieves have removed seats, handlebars, front wheels, and even back wheels when they weren't carefully locked down. One thing I do love and will probably keep on any new bicycle I get is my detachable shopping basket. It has an easy release that clips right off the handlebars and doubles as a store shopping basket. Bonus: you don't have to worry about overshopping, as when the basket gets full, it's time to stop! And you use fewer carrier bags this way, too.
Various places offer bicyle choosing guides; here are the results of my google search on this topic.
So far, I'm enjoying reading articles at Cycling for Fun, although the 'choosing' article is a bit light.
Why Cycle? has some good resources too, and they claim to be impartial. This site's newsfeed also leads me to a fun article about Transport for London's search for London bicycle buddies. This in turn leads me to the new TfL Cycle London site, which could prove interesting as well.
That said, here are some bicycles I have been looking at.
Large cycle retailer Evans is having an end of season sale, and here is their listing of hybrid bikes they have for sale. Some of them are quite reasonable, and the good point about going with a big retailer like Evans is they have shops all over the UK and they service what they sell.
Some of you might remember from my first foray into looking at bicycles online a few weeks ago, I do quite like this Pashley, also from Evans. It's a women's bicycle with a much more graceful looking crossbar, and I just really like the way it looks. Alas, the Evans we stopped into at London Bridge last weekend didn't have it in stock, so I didn't get a chance to see how it fit me.
I quite like the look of this suspension frame bicycle from Decathlon, but I've been told to steer away from relatively inexpensive suspension frame bicycles. I'm interestedin trying a suspension frame to see if I like the feel of it better, though; it might make the rocky roads of London (see what I did there?) a little more comfortable. ;-)
The description of this mountain bike is nice-- but it weighs 18.4 kg-- 40 pounds! Aie; no thanks; I'd never get it up my stairs!
This one? Just lovely, but not rated for uneven terrain. Too bad: it looks incredibly comfortable, doesn't it?
This is a touring bike, fits in sort of the medium-to-high price range, and has a lot of features I'm interested in. I'm only worried that it's not suitable for riding on 'very rough terrain', as I'm not sure what that means. Do potholes count? Speed humps? (OK, I just like saying 'speed humps'.) What about gravel? Downhill on a pedestrian path with bumps and holes? Or are we talking granite outcroppings, here? ;-)
Where's my local cycle shop? Well, here's a list of retailers near me, but, fortunately or un-, my local cycle shop, right here in Deptford, is world-famous Witcomb Cycles, which builds custom bicycles (and teaches other people how to build them too), plus provides maintenance and repairs for their own and other people's products. Their repair and maintenance prices are steep, and as a novice cyclist, I'm a little afraid to go in there at all, especially on my son's bottom-of-the-line Decathlon model. I should really just get over that and see what the fuss is about, eh? And before you say, "Wow, a custom bicycle! That sounds great!" Yeah. Take a look at their current price list (it's a .pdf) and weep.
Chain Reaction Cycles is apparently having a sale, but I'm finding their website difficult to navigate.
This one, from Winstanley's, looks like a possibility. Italian. Nice looking. Light. On sale.... ;-) Even cheaper, still at Winstanley's, is this one, whose description sounds too good to be true, but the price may actually be right.
bikes2udirect.com also seems to have a lot of stuff, but the name of their website took away my will to live, so I haven't perused it very far. I keep seeingpola_bear's friend D doing the phones4u hand motions.....
OK, cyclist friends, what do you think? Do you see something out there that I've missed? I really want to choose the right bicycle. Given what I've said here, what sort of bicycle should I be looking for? I don't want to just ride back and forth to work. I want to cycle to Canturbury some weekend. I want to take cycle holidays with J and be able to cover a lot of ground while still feeling comfortable. I want to spend a lot of time on this puppy, so it needs to be friendly and sturdy-- and it can't eat me out of house and home. ;)
ETA: I'm going to unlock this entry and make it public for a limited time only, so I can point My Sister The Doctor at it, as her opinion on these matters counts for me, since she's part of the reason I'm cycling, and she's been a real inspiration to me as far as telling me all the good things cycling will do for me that walking, running, lifting weights, and high-impact aerobics won't.
In my family, September means we're already bandying about ideas for Christmas presents. I usually post a list sometime in October, but this year I'm getting my thoughts on record early, as it's going to be a different kind of year here.
filceolaire already knows that all I want for Christmas from him is new wedding bands. Seriously, on a cooler day when my fingers feel smaller, they're already threatening to fall off my hand, and I must remove them now every time I wash dishes or do anything that will make my fingers slippery. Twenty more pounds, and it'll be dangerous to wear them at all for fear of losing them. So, for the rest of the family (my definition), it's gonna be really simple this year. I want a new bicycle. I don't care if I get it slightly before Christmas or slightly after Christmas, but I want a good one. I intend to spend a lot of time cycling over the next few years, and J and I both could actually use new bicycles, to tell you the truth. My cheap used one has already developed a problem J's having trouble fixing, and J's cheap used one may or may not hold up over things like potential cycling holidays and the like. I don't care if you all get together in a mob and make a Harper Bicycle Fund, I don't care if you all just ooh and ahh over the photographs of bicycles I'm looking at. There is, as always, no obligation to contribute or buy anything. If you have advice to give, I'd love to hear it. Right now, I'm cycling back and forth to work every day and doing all of my day-to-day errands on the bicycle. I want to extend my range and expand my abilities, and I like input. :-)
What bicycle do I want? I've spent some time thinking on that, particularly since I had to
I don't want a straight-up city commute bicycle. So if you're tempted to look at bicycles and suggest things to me (and there are hundreds of sites out there, so help sifting through them is always appreciated!), don't click on 'road bikes' or 'street bikes'. While I will be using my bicycle to get from point a to point b, I also want to use it for longer weekend rides or even cycle holidays that will require a more versatile machine. I'm looking primarily at hybrid bicycles but I understand mountain bikes are less expensive overall. Just because you can ride a bicycle off the street doesn't mean you have to only ride it off the street, and lots of London cycle commuters use mountain bikes. The other thing I really don't want is a folding bike. While it might be really cool to be able to take a bicycle on the Tube at rush hour, most folding bicycles have a very small wheel base and require a lot of work. Also, I am a little bit afraid of them. Word on the street (well, OK, the web) is that unless you get a really expensive, slick folding bicycle, the foldy bit of it is likely to be fiddly at best. I'm also convinced, though I've been riding straight crossbar bicycles, that I will prefer a woman's model, because of the easier step-through. That said, I have got used to throwing my leg over G's tall bicycle, and I think I'll need to take a women's model out for a spin before I'm sure on this point. After all, the only thing you can't do on a man's bicycle is ride gracefully in a skirt-- and I don't really wear a lot of skirts. But you never know what the future will bring, and I want as much freedom as I can get!
While I want a good bicycle, I don't want a flashy bicycle, because bicycles are very attractive to thieves. And, in London, just locking your bicycle to a post isn't going to save you from theft. All you have to do is walk around and be observant and you'll see bicycle skeletons everywhere, where clever thieves have removed seats, handlebars, front wheels, and even back wheels when they weren't carefully locked down. One thing I do love and will probably keep on any new bicycle I get is my detachable shopping basket. It has an easy release that clips right off the handlebars and doubles as a store shopping basket. Bonus: you don't have to worry about overshopping, as when the basket gets full, it's time to stop! And you use fewer carrier bags this way, too.
Various places offer bicyle choosing guides; here are the results of my google search on this topic.
So far, I'm enjoying reading articles at Cycling for Fun, although the 'choosing' article is a bit light.
Why Cycle? has some good resources too, and they claim to be impartial. This site's newsfeed also leads me to a fun article about Transport for London's search for London bicycle buddies. This in turn leads me to the new TfL Cycle London site, which could prove interesting as well.
That said, here are some bicycles I have been looking at.
Large cycle retailer Evans is having an end of season sale, and here is their listing of hybrid bikes they have for sale. Some of them are quite reasonable, and the good point about going with a big retailer like Evans is they have shops all over the UK and they service what they sell.
Some of you might remember from my first foray into looking at bicycles online a few weeks ago, I do quite like this Pashley, also from Evans. It's a women's bicycle with a much more graceful looking crossbar, and I just really like the way it looks. Alas, the Evans we stopped into at London Bridge last weekend didn't have it in stock, so I didn't get a chance to see how it fit me.
I quite like the look of this suspension frame bicycle from Decathlon, but I've been told to steer away from relatively inexpensive suspension frame bicycles. I'm interestedin trying a suspension frame to see if I like the feel of it better, though; it might make the rocky roads of London (see what I did there?) a little more comfortable. ;-)
The description of this mountain bike is nice-- but it weighs 18.4 kg-- 40 pounds! Aie; no thanks; I'd never get it up my stairs!
This one? Just lovely, but not rated for uneven terrain. Too bad: it looks incredibly comfortable, doesn't it?
This is a touring bike, fits in sort of the medium-to-high price range, and has a lot of features I'm interested in. I'm only worried that it's not suitable for riding on 'very rough terrain', as I'm not sure what that means. Do potholes count? Speed humps? (OK, I just like saying 'speed humps'.) What about gravel? Downhill on a pedestrian path with bumps and holes? Or are we talking granite outcroppings, here? ;-)
Where's my local cycle shop? Well, here's a list of retailers near me, but, fortunately or un-, my local cycle shop, right here in Deptford, is world-famous Witcomb Cycles, which builds custom bicycles (and teaches other people how to build them too), plus provides maintenance and repairs for their own and other people's products. Their repair and maintenance prices are steep, and as a novice cyclist, I'm a little afraid to go in there at all, especially on my son's bottom-of-the-line Decathlon model. I should really just get over that and see what the fuss is about, eh? And before you say, "Wow, a custom bicycle! That sounds great!" Yeah. Take a look at their current price list (it's a .pdf) and weep.
Chain Reaction Cycles is apparently having a sale, but I'm finding their website difficult to navigate.
This one, from Winstanley's, looks like a possibility. Italian. Nice looking. Light. On sale.... ;-) Even cheaper, still at Winstanley's, is this one, whose description sounds too good to be true, but the price may actually be right.
bikes2udirect.com also seems to have a lot of stuff, but the name of their website took away my will to live, so I haven't perused it very far. I keep seeing
pola_bear's friend D doing the phones4u hand motions.....OK, cyclist friends, what do you think? Do you see something out there that I've missed? I really want to choose the right bicycle. Given what I've said here, what sort of bicycle should I be looking for? I don't want to just ride back and forth to work. I want to cycle to Canturbury some weekend. I want to take cycle holidays with J and be able to cover a lot of ground while still feeling comfortable. I want to spend a lot of time on this puppy, so it needs to be friendly and sturdy-- and it can't eat me out of house and home. ;)
ETA: I'm going to unlock this entry and make it public for a limited time only, so I can point My Sister The Doctor at it, as her opinion on these matters counts for me, since she's part of the reason I'm cycling, and she's been a real inspiration to me as far as telling me all the good things cycling will do for me that walking, running, lifting weights, and high-impact aerobics won't.
