I've added more content to the Ding Ding Flickr album. When Leah expressed interest in trying out a road bike, she got lots of prescriptive advice. My advice was to acquire a good cheap used road bike and ride it a couple hundred miles. Then sell it or give it away and do it again, but now 5x smarter.
I did some shopping on her behalf, and knowing what I know about the history of road bikes and having worked at shops from 1984 - 2001, I had some very strong instincts where some high value opportunities reside. I was so encouraged by what I was finding that I started a thread on internet-BOB where we're going to make it a game. You spend under $200 on a used bike (with proof: screenshot of the craigslist ad or equivalent). You can spend up to $200 to fix it up (mainly honor system) and then ride it 200km. After the riding part is done, you write up your "entry" and judges will decide who wins. Yesterday, I bought my entry bike, which is exactly the kind of thing I was thinking Leah could/should buy. I paid $195 for this 1991 Trek 1200, 56cm, Day Glow Yellow with black splatter: https://flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/53692100883/in/album-72177720316423417/ I rode it this morning down to Orange Theory and back so I'm 20km to the 200km entry. I have not put it in the work stand for even a second and I didn't even have to pump the tires. The term I use for "ready to ride" used bikes is "turnkey". One I've ridden this bike a couple hundred miles I could donate it, or maybe use it as a platform for something else. Who knows. This was the kind of low-commitment activity I was recommending to Leah, and now it's become performance-art. I won't blather about what a good value I think early 90s Trek aluminum bikes were. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a20257bc-3e6d-476d-b13f-6f61a43fa298n%40googlegroups.com.
