Biking - ur doing it rong
Those who know me know I have an ambivalent attitude toward biking. On the one hand, I am not, in any way, shape or form, in danger of being thought of as "fit." And I know embarrassingly next to nothing of mechanics or maintenance, beyond being able to change a tire. On the other hand, between not knowing how to drive and a young adulthood spent mostly in self-inflicted poverty, I've relied on bikes (mainly one, "Pink Squirrel") as my primary form of transportation for about 20 years. Um...ok, longer than that, actually. My god, I really ought to understand gear ratios much more than I do.
Anyway. This past revelatory Saturday, we made our way (not without incident -- another post, eventually, on that) out to College Park Bikes and road-tested one of these bad girls.
OMG.
I must say this, as a public service: if you're anywhere near 5'0", or care about someone who is, do NOT buy/let them buy a "normal" bike until you've tried the folding variety. Forget, for a moment, the nifty convenience of it scrunching up so that you can take it on trains and planes and very easily in cars. That's just gravy. Focus on that tiny frame.
For the first time, I understood why, despite thousands of miles of riding, I don't have a cyclist's physique but instead have freakishly muscular calves that make it hard to wear boots. I also felt, for the very first time, what's it's like to have the bike (properly) powered by glutes and quads rather than smaller muscle groups. Gears? Yeah, it's got 'em, but who needs gears? I was zooming up hills in top gear.
People say the lower center of gravity on the folding bikes takes time to get used to.
I say it felt like coming home.
With some difficulty, K dissuaded me from buying the floor demo I was riding -- I was ready to toss 'ol Pinky in the dumpster and ride this baby home, but, yes, ok: I agreed to do more research and a price comparison first.
Actually, that's another appealing feature of these bikes: they're in the $300 - $400 range. Bike Friday makes some purtier ones in the vicinity of $1200 - $1500. I asked the bike mechanic at College Park what I'd get for my extra grand. He explained how the BF folds up smaller and has cunningly-placed magnets to keep the folded frame together, while the Downtube has nothing. K and I looked at each other. I'm pleased to say we've been together long enough to be confident in our ESP. Yes, we silently agreed, we could spend a thousand bucks on magnets. Or buy the Downtube, and get, y'know. Bungee cords.
A trip to the company HQ near Philly is now in the planning stages so that I can pick out my model.
Anyway. This past revelatory Saturday, we made our way (not without incident -- another post, eventually, on that) out to College Park Bikes and road-tested one of these bad girls.
OMG.
I must say this, as a public service: if you're anywhere near 5'0", or care about someone who is, do NOT buy/let them buy a "normal" bike until you've tried the folding variety. Forget, for a moment, the nifty convenience of it scrunching up so that you can take it on trains and planes and very easily in cars. That's just gravy. Focus on that tiny frame.
For the first time, I understood why, despite thousands of miles of riding, I don't have a cyclist's physique but instead have freakishly muscular calves that make it hard to wear boots. I also felt, for the very first time, what's it's like to have the bike (properly) powered by glutes and quads rather than smaller muscle groups. Gears? Yeah, it's got 'em, but who needs gears? I was zooming up hills in top gear.
People say the lower center of gravity on the folding bikes takes time to get used to.
I say it felt like coming home.
With some difficulty, K dissuaded me from buying the floor demo I was riding -- I was ready to toss 'ol Pinky in the dumpster and ride this baby home, but, yes, ok: I agreed to do more research and a price comparison first.
Actually, that's another appealing feature of these bikes: they're in the $300 - $400 range. Bike Friday makes some purtier ones in the vicinity of $1200 - $1500. I asked the bike mechanic at College Park what I'd get for my extra grand. He explained how the BF folds up smaller and has cunningly-placed magnets to keep the folded frame together, while the Downtube has nothing. K and I looked at each other. I'm pleased to say we've been together long enough to be confident in our ESP. Yes, we silently agreed, we could spend a thousand bucks on magnets. Or buy the Downtube, and get, y'know. Bungee cords.
A trip to the company HQ near Philly is now in the planning stages so that I can pick out my model.
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esquiver said...
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esquiver said...
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Post a CommentWhat? You mean there are people who care about people who are near 5'0"?
Many of my marathon running friends are all converting to bikes, because they are sick of injuries. Quitters. I tell people that the last time I rode a bike was during the Carter administration--which is true. When I describe the problems I had with my last bike--which *was*, after all, a ten speed--people stare at me like I bought it second hand from Fred Flintstone.
Even more amusing--the bike I had before the ten speed is now a valuable collector's item: A schwin stingray, bananna seat, with what we used to call 'ape hanger' handle bars (or 'sissy bars.' I don't know what made them 'sissy'--they certainly weren't all that practical). That bike is now apparently worth hundreds of dollars. But I don't see anyone riding one around.......
And if the 'pink squirrel' is that piece you were riding around when you last lived here, then it really is high time to send that rodent to the land where bikes are all eternally blessed.
I almost forgot--You realize, of course, that your new set of wheels will cost more than half a new Tata Nano....Just think how you could zip up hill and dale in one of THOSE mean gals!
Hunh? I'm gonna go for the $350 one. If there's a $700 car out there...well, just don't tell me about it.
NOOOOOOO! Do not buy the $350 bike! Listen, you were born during the HURRMMPH administration, and you deserve to be riding a nice, lightweight bike. Is the $1300 bike FOUR times better than the $350 bike? Of course not. But as I CONSTANTLY wail on at my marathon group BBS--the first marathon I walked with my sister, my feet blistered, the blisters popped, and then I got blisters on the underskin (hey--I'm not a doctor, okay?). Suffice to say, I ended that marathon with bloody shoes. And while I was walking, did I ever say to myself 'Wow. I am SO happy that I didn't spend five bucks on blister pads and micropore tape to wrap up my feet. As soon as I can walk again--in about three weeks--I'll be able to go to the matinee of a budget movie by myself!'
So---at LEAST send some time riding around on the pricey bike...Because if you are serious about becoming a biker, you're going to want to step up to a good bike any way....So start out with a good bike--because biking is more fun when you go further, and you go further with the right bike--not that pink squirrel. Send that rodent to bike heaven, where it can meet up with my Schwin Varsity.
AND, you'll know that you own a bike that costs more than half a new car!
I remain:
Bill Abendroth
Folders are great - it's nice to have a bike that really fits and that you can take with you almost everywhere.
At the risk of being a folder geek, though, I feel compelled to point out that bike fridays don't have magnets (that's Dahon) or fold particularly small). They're expensive because they are custom made to your size and because they have really nice components (i.e., the same reason some regular bikes cost $1000-$1500).
But if you don't feel you need that, you probably don't. If you look at people biking in Europe, they tend to use bikes that seem really old fashioned - until you use them for a while and realize three gears are plenty and it's more comfortable to sit on a more traditional bike anyway.
Regardless - enjoy your folder!
Thanks for the correction, Peter. That'll teach me to put my blind trust in a random bike-shop guy.
I utterly covet the bike friday, but I just don't think I can justify it yet with the kind of riding I do. I figure that a $350 bike can always be resold at not too bad of a loss if it turns out that down the road (so to speak) I really NEED those high-end components, but plonking down for the advanced ride when I'm really ready for the intermediate one is just more bike than I need. Or less. Whatever. It gets confusing with these little ones.
Bill,
It's not about spending $5 on moleskin (sheesh, how cheap are YOU?). It's about having the right tool for the job. Bigger isn't always better, despite the rather remarkable assertions you've just made in a private email. Although I could never send Pinky to the glue factory, clearly he's no longer the most appropriate tool, and should be put out to stud. But just as I'd never buy a top-end Mac for the 99% of the time I'm just using email and Word (besides which, my low(est)-end G4 is damn cute), I think it's silly to get a Friday if the demands of my tooling-around needs won't come close to exceeding what the cheaper DT will offer.
Er, pretty much what I just said more concisely to Peter. Except I did want to get that crack about the email in there. Oh, and to praise the G4, too. Poor Caedmon: he works so hard, and hardly ever gets any recognition.
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