I've been kicking around the idea of getting a bicycle for a while now. I need to get me some more exercise and the wimpy little workouts on the elliptical here at work in the morning ain't cuttin' it. I put some feelers out and Maynard came back with the website that he'd bought his bike off of; http://bikesdirect.com/ I checked 'em out and man, they have all kinds of selections, options, sizes, etc. And, (according to both Maynard and other independent websites), this place sells the same bikes you'd get in brick and mortar stores for a fraction of the usual price. That's something I could get behind!
It's been eons since I pedaled a bike before so I had no idea what I was looking for or even what many of the fancy new terms meant, like SS, or lock-out suspension, 29er, etc. What kind of derailleur (I had to verify that was how you spelled it) I should look for, what size frame, pedals, handlebars, chainrings (what the hell is a chainring?), sprockets, gear ratios, etc. What the fcuk? I just want to buy a bicycle!
Having no idea on where to start, I went with the trusted method; let's start with the wallet. IE: let's start with the cheap stuff.
Holy crap, some of these bikes can get really expensive, even on this site. Ok, let's look at some of the lwoer cost ones. Hmm...lots of bikes still...ok, lemme focus on what kind of riding I'd like to do. Well, the Tour de France is out. Pan Mass Challenge is out (it's call "pan" Mass for a reason, and the only bike I'm taking across Mass is one that does the work for me). I'm not looking for a commuter ride, I've already got one of those. I'm not planning on getting all outfitted with brightly colored shorts and a matching hat, just to go riding from town to town, so that's out. That left me with local, side street riding, as well as the dirt bike trails and high tension paths that are all around in the woods behind me. That certainly narrowed things down and made it clear; I need a mountain bike!
Ok, so now what? Well, still looking at low-cost entry versions. After all, I still have no idea if I'm going to love this activity or if I'm going to hang the bike up after a month and walk away from it, so short money is the way to go.
Low cost mountain bikes. Let's see....this one looks kind of cool...but it's a 29er. What the hell is a 29er. Google was my friend once again, and now I know it's a 29 inch wheel (compared against the traditional 26 inch size). Apparently the larger wheels travel better over things like rocks, sticks, small children, etc. Ok, that sounds good to me. So I'm looking for a 29er mountain bike. What's next...
Gears. How many do I want, how do I want them spread out, and how do I want to shift between them. Well, I can get a single chainring (thanks to Google, I now know that that's what you call the front sprockets, found on the pedal axle), a double chainring, or a triple. And cassettes (the collection of rear sprockets on the rear axle - thanks Google). They can come anywhere from 1 to 12. Seriously? If you look at all the components, you can get a bike with between 1 and 36 gears. Who the hell needs 36 gears? (I wouldn't mind having more gears on the Harley, but even 36 would be pretty ridiculous.)
Those of you paying attention may have noticed that I said you can get a bike with 1 gear. How? Ahhh, by running a single cassette with a single chainring. (Don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about!)
I thought huh...all this nonsense about multiple gears. When I was a kid, I used to remember how much of a pain it was if the chain became crossed between sprockets, or the derailler (we would have spelled it that way when I was a kid) got bunged up. And since I'm just starting out and not even sure if I'm going to like this activity at my advanced age, why not keep things simple (stupid).
Sweet! I've made another choice! Ok, so I'm looking at a 29er, SS (that's the term cyclists use for single speed - I'm getting hip to the phraseology) mountain bike. Awesome, let's see what we've got. Hey, there's a pretty awesome looking one for $350, that sounds pretty damn good. Let's go back to Google and see if we can find any reviews on this kind of thing. Hot damn - all kinds of reviews, and people LOVE this thing. Even folks who have been riding for years, and on multi-geared, full suspensions, said they had a lot of fun on one of these when given the chance to try it. Ok, I'm sold. Let's do this.
The color options were a dull black, a plain white, and a flourescent orange that screams "Hey, I'm a rebel! I'm cool!"...so of course I decided to go with the orange. You know, because I need to affirm my coolness to myself and everyone around me whenever I can.
Next up was sizing. The website is awesome on that, too. They give you directions on some measurements to take of yourself, then email them with that info, the bike you are intersted in, and the type/style of riding you're going to be doing. I did, and they replied a few hours later, and voila! I had what I needed!
Everything...except the bike itself. They're out of that size (and almost all other sizes in that color). Dammit! I emailed them again, asking if they would be getting any more of these. They replied, and said they do expect to have more...in October.
Awesome.
I went back into the website and tried to find another bike but kept being drawn back to the one I'd already chosen. There were other bikes that were close 29er SS mountain bike with lockout suspension - which also thanks to Google, I now know means you can "turn the suspension off" to make it a rigid. I guess this helps when you're riding uphill...or maybe it's downhill...I forget. But no matter; my friend Google will be there again if I need her. Her? Him? It. Anyway, those models were $100 more, and while I could probably live with that, they too are sold out in orange.
I guess there must be a lot of cool people riding out there. I can't wait to join them. (As Matt would say; I'll have another "me too" bike.)
So it's a waiting game now. Starting in late August, I'll check the site each week to make sure I don't miss the boat if the bikes happen to come in before October.
October?? But I'm itching to get out on those trails and hi-t paths now!!
I wonder how the Harley would do on the dirt bike trails out back...
Ride Hard, Take Chances
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