bike fit
I decided to buy a bicycle so that I can pick up our vegetables from our farm CSA without sitting in traffic. Brent has been doing this for a while. I did it once and that was enough. It's about two miles to the pickup site from our house, including a stretch with no sidewalks, so walking's not really an option even when the weather cooperates.
There's so much stuff about bicycling here, from building infrastructure (bike lanes) to Bike to Work Day and environmental benefits, that I naively thought that I could just walk into my neighborhood bike shop and buy a bicycle that fits my 5-foot-tall, middle-aged self. I talked to a few of my bike-owning co-workers, all of whom thought that I wouldn't have any problems getting Just A Bike.
The bike shop closest to our house felt the most clubby. There were only three or four other customers, but they all seemed to know each other an the bike staff (and I was the only woman). After waiting in line, I told the guy I just need a basic bike for riding on local streets for a few miles and asked if they had anything smaller. They did not, but he lent me a big comfort-style (upright handlebars, shock absorption) bike to try. I couldn't even get on the thing because the seat was so far off the ground. I did at least buy a bike helmet in highlighter yellow for other test rides.
The second bike shop was friendlier and more for normal people (there were a couple of families), but they still wanted to put me on a bike that was too big. I had to try out all three of their small bikes before they were convinced that I really do need an extra small. Unfortunately they only had those in their warehouse, so I had to buy it without trying it, but they said they'd give me store credit if it doesn't fit. Also apparently bike companies are phasing out extra smalls, which probably means I'll have to buy a kid's bike at some point. The bike I bought is yellow, though perhaps not neon yellow like the helmet. Mostly I want to stick out so that people in automobiles can see me.
I went to a third shop just to see whether they had any extra-small models, to give myself a bit more confidence that I'm not wasting my money. It also felt very clubby and male, although there was one other woman customer. I did see an extra-small frame of a different bike brand, and it looked good. Hopefully I haven't wasted $700.
Honestly, I see why people just buy a bike at Target or Costco or whatever. It's not just because they're cheaper. They also don't make you feel like a loser for wanting a basic bike that does its job.