I never went to my LBS this time to buy a bike. I'd not ridden a bike for about 10 years due to my brain injury, though every now and again I'd foolishly hop on my wife's Dahon folder (I have constant neurological vertigo due to damage in my brain stem). One day, after going barefoot or moccasined for three years (which opened up being able to walk, hike, and run without sticks for the first time since 2002) I tried the folder again. Success! I could ride to .2 of a mile without my brain shorting out. Gadzooks! What if the bike fit me, what material would be best? How could I test out my best thoughts at answers without breaking the bank?
I connected with a bike ministry in our area and they let me try out a few bikes. Steel definitely. But I was only able ride 3 miles on the China Schwinn cross bike. It felt fairly swimmy. After reading a lot and searching, I discovered Rivendell and Grant. We talked. He thought I was nuts (not wrong) but I somehow convinced him that his bike would not be the instant finishing of the job that's been started on my noggin. I don't track milage, but days of fun on the bike over the last 16 months of having my Hunqapillar have been over 300 I'd guess. I can't (yet) run errands with it much (too much stimulation in towns and shops), but it is how I make it through town quickly to the trailhead to escape the regular noise or run the trails. It's opened up backcountry travel for me again (I can't carry weight above my waist), and I've have grand tours of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail and the Colorado Trail and other backcountry singletrack and roads. It's opened up backcountry touring with my family. As near as I can tell because the attention Grant pays to every design and manufacturing detail, the quality, the lugs, and how they transfer the energy of the bike on the earth to the rider (I use proprioception through my feet and hands and rear to know where I am in space, though my brain hasn't a clue) is so qualitatively different that riding this bike helps my brain recover -- I just have to be doing well enough to hop on it and go (not always easy to come by). With abandon, Patrick On Thursday, August 1, 2013 10:27:08 AM UTC-6, LeahFoy wrote: > > In reading the thread about bike fit, I was reminded about another closely > related topic: choosing a bike. > > I was in the market for a new bike, and after a lifetime of Target bikes, > a REAL bike from an LBS seemed like a lofty goal. I hit the only LBS with a > brand name I recognized - Trek. Though my money was as good as anyone > else's, I was treated like a nuisance and not a paying customer. The guys > in lycra with carbon drop-bar bikes were revered and respected as they > clicked their way through the store. I was immediately steered to their > basic 1.0 model of the comfort Navigator line in a remote corner of the > store. They quoted me a price of several hundred dollars and left me to > think it over. I left the shop feeling confused. I was willing to spend > several hundred bucks but had only been given a curt introduction to the > bike. I had no idea why they felt it was 'the' bike for me, and I wasn't > even sure I liked how the bike felt. Was it really an improvement over my > Target Schwinn? I hit Craigslist and found a Trek 7.6FX for sale. I bought > it, and it was the nicest riding bike I'd ever had. But I was left with > this nagging annoyance at being leaned forward with too much weight on my > hands. i couldn't look up at the gorgeous bike path scenery. I was also > very limited in my terrain, due to the skinny, high pressure tires on the > bike. I had to tell my boys 'no' every time they asked to take a dirt road. > I hit the internet, specifically a women's biking forum, who insisted that > flat bars were horrid and drop bars were what I needed. I kept thinking > (almost shamefully) that my upright bars on my old Target bike would be > more comfortable, but I banished the thought because one isn't taken > seriously when one prefers upright bars. The Specialized Ruby was being > recommended over and over again. Its relaxed geometry and those comfortable > drop bars were repeated like a mantra to me. I visited the Specialized LBS, > who raved about the comfort of the Ruby. I wanted a bike that would pull a > tag-along, and that I could put a rack on so I could haul stuff. People > looked at me funny. They didn't know how any of that would jive with the > bike. But they still sung the praises of the carbon Ruby. > > By now, I had gotten addicted to riding all over town to my son's school, > on errands, and for pleasure. As the bike became more and more important to > me, I got ready to make a purchase. I was THIS CLOSE to buying the carbon > drop-bar bike because I believed the "experts" that this was a fantastic > and comfortable bike that I would just LOVE. They knew what I wanted the > bike for, and of my complaints of weight on hands, etc, and yet they > arrived at this conclusion. They were totally ok with me shelling out > almost 2k for a bike that would be ill-suited to my needs. > > One night I did an Amazon search of books on cycling. Grant Petersen's > book lit up my screen. I saw a bike with upright bars on the cover. I saw > lots of stars in the book reviews. I bought the book. Suddenly, the heavens > opened and choirs of angels began to sing! He was talking about RACKS, and > upright bars, and kickstands, and all manner of practical things that would > aid me in using the bike around town! I went to his website, and as a lover > of literature/writing myself, I was totally taken with him and his brand. I > knew gold when I found it; and it was Rivendell. > > Shortly after, I cut some household expenses, sold the Trek (for more than > I bought it for, BTW), and asked Keven if he had a Betty for me. He found > one, had it built within a week, and my family jumped in the van to make > the 5 hour trek to Riv HQ. > > I love my bike. It's exactly what I needed, and even what I WANTED. It's > pretty, it's useful, and it's reliable. I shudder when I think of the > nightmare that would have been pulling a tag-along on a drop bar carbon > Ruby. Maybe some of you do that, but it would have been all wrong for me. > And the point of my story is that nobody in the LBS stores cared that it > was. I was excruciatingly specific in what kind of cyclist I was, but they > still recommended a bike that was ill-suited for me. > > I'm so glad I have my Rivendell Betty Foy. Anyone else have a similar > story? > -- 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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
