Saturday, July 11, 2009

Adventures in bike shopping..


I'm really mostly a "cruiser" kind of girl, and admittedly I love the dutch commuter bikes.
I covet the Pashley Princess, she WILL be mine. I had a cute little Giant simple cruiser, I bought it in Toronto before I moved here and it did me well for the bit of cycling I did in the flat terrain of my former Bloor West digs, (I confess the majority of this cycling was weekly Tuesday jaunts to Bryden's to sit and gab with my delicious friend Reagan while sipping pints of Tenants)... I digress.
After moving here, it became evident that there was a great bicycle infrastructure in downtown Montreal with dedicated bike lanes on some major arteries. Two things, about Montreal however make it unique .. bike theft and hills like you have never seen, both are rampant! I realized having a single speed bike, and a flashy one loaded with chrome ect was not the best set up, a former friends bike was stolen right from our courtyard 2 days after she moved here!

I know bike theft is common in all cities but here it seems epidemic .. almost plague like, I wanted to find something light, with several speeds, and comfortable geometry wise for pulling a bike trailer with 2 kids! What a chore that is!! I went through several bikes on the resale market including a Trek hybrid 7000 until I came to my senses and decided to go to my LBS and just buy something custom fitted.


I'll miss my Giant Simple.. she stopped people everywhere I went on her! but I sold her to a really happy girl, who will ride her more than I ever did!. I took my Basil Blossom bags off and added them to the new ride. I'm headed out to get a new saddle ( a Brooks) for my new bike today.. so I will update with some more pictures in a while.


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