Tuesday, February 22, 2011

New Relationship

I bought a new bike today. And she's gorgeous. Scandium tubing and clean tig welds. By "new" I of course mean used. The fact that she had someone in her life before me isn't discouraging in the least. There could be a few lingering issues from her past but nothing I can't fix.

I almost bought this bike; a very nice carbon fiber BH CX bike with Ultegra components that's on sale at an amazing price at Speed Goat. I put the cursor on the "buy" icon, and gently taped the mouse, just gentle enough not to buy it. I would leave my desk to get a coffee, come back, and tap the mouse again. I couldn't quite bring myself to buy it. On paper it looked like a better choice but it just didn't feel right. Buying a bicycle is an emotional decision, not a rational one.

My new Kona is a single speed, not because cyclo-cross isn't challenging enough with a geared bike but because I like single speeds. Single speeds are clean and sincere. And since I am going to be racing my single speed mountain bike this season, it almost made sense to buy a single speed cross bike to train on. That's what Cyclo-Dan said when I told him I was looking at this bike. He knew I needed a nudge.

The bike came with an extra fixed gear wheelset. I could ride around down town Ann Arbor with all the hipsters on fixies, and maybe get that tattoo I want.

All right then, back to something a little closer to reality. We just got a foot of snow so she will stay in the garage for a few more weeks. I keep going out there to gawk. The previous owner sold her to buy a custom Quiring single speed ti cross bike. I doubt he is more excited than me.
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3 comments:

  1. TrevorW�� February 26, 2011 at 6:58 AM

    You are so right about buying a bike being an emotional rather than a rational decision.
    Once the purchase is made, ownership of the bike almost develops like a love affair....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matt JuthFebruary 26, 2011 at 10:02 AM

    You beat me to the racing SS thing. I've been delaying that decision for years, and I always keep getting back to gears. SS is just so fricken hard on the terrain here, that it gives me the "I am a real man" ego, but at then end of the day, it doesn't end up being as much fun...yet.

    I hope all is well with your job and family.

    Matt

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  3. NeilFebruary 26, 2011 at 1:14 PM

    Trevor,
    A new bike is great, until it gets all needy and bent out of shape if I so much as look at a carbon fiber bike. Wait, what are we talking about?

    Matt,
    I wanted a Yeti CX bike like you had so bad that all my friends are tired of hearing me whine about it. Yetis are just a tad pricy new and impossible to find used. But they are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete

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