bike shopping
Mon Dec 1 21:45:03 EST 2014
The weather forecast was for rather warm today, and rain after midnight. My ride in was in the upper 60s°F/20°C, but the rain has already started. That's not what I wanted to commute home in. Our Internet was out the last couple of hours before I left home, so I couldn't check the weather sites for updates. ☹
The 3rd recumbent dealer (State College, PA) of the 3 I contacted replied today. He was not at all encouraging. He reduces his inventory over the winter, and doesn't get in anything new until the spring, so it sounds like he doesn't have much in his shop for me to ride. He recommended the first dealer (Alfred Station, NY) - the one that's farthest from me. ☹
The first guy replied again too, and he's talking more about what he's got in stock than about what I said I'm looking for. I guess I should have made clear that I don't expect anyone to have on hand exactly what I'm looking for. I expect I'm going to have to custom order from whatever manufacturer I pick. But I want to ride as many different bikes as possible to confirm or disprove my present conceptions of what I want - suspension, steering, brakes, shifters, seat - and the brand itself. After evaluating all that I will configure my optimal bike, and find out what it costs. And then wait for it to arrive - from Germany, or Czechoslovakia, or Holland, or Taiwan, or the US, or wherever.
He also mentioned that he doesn't let the bikes out when the roads are salted and wet, which I can understand. (I don't want to be out then either. Nor do I want to be driving 4-6 hours each way to visit any of these shops then.) That may make it hard to find opportunities to test ride this time of year.
The 2nd guy (Hamilton Square, NJ) was supposed to call me over the weekend, and maybe I missed it. There's a 4th guy possible, in Brooklyn, but I haven't contacted him yet. He charges $100 for demo sessions(!), but it's applicable to the purchase - kind of locks you in, so that's probably the last place I want to look. I could also get there on public transit, but if I had to go there to pick up a bike (other than a folding bike) it would be a real hassle. Then again, his website was the strongest plug for the HPV Grasshopper, my current top pick. (And something I probably could bring home via NYC Subway, MegaBus, and DC Metro.)
How come when I give these guys 2 lists of selection criteria, the necessary list and the nice list, they suggest things that meet the nice list but not the necessary list? If I say full (i.e. front+rear) suspension and disc brakes are essential, and folding is a big bonus, why do they suggest folding bikes that don't have suspension? I'm thinking "Hmmm, some nice-sounding brands I missed..." and I go look them up and find that they don't meet my stated requirements. I didn't miss them. I'd already dismissed them. And forgotten them. If they think suspension is not essential, they need to make that case, and then suggest non-suspended bikes. I'm trying to not waste their time; I wish they wouldn't waste mine.
If I want both wheels the same size so I don't need 2 sizes of tires and tubes, do you think I would want disc brakes on one wheel and rim brakes on the other? (a) I don't want to buy/carry 2 kinds of replacement pads, and (b) disc brakes were on my necessary list; I'm tired of dealing with rim brakes.
Well, the ride home wasn't too bad. 44°F/6.7°C in the shed when I parked the bike. A big change from the 68°F/20°C when I got to work. The last temperature reported from the airport when I left the office was 52°F/11.1°C, so that's a big drop on the road. Cold front coming in? The rain had stopped, but the roads were wet. I took my alternate route, Pennsylvania Ave and M St through Georgetown, and across Key Bridge to Arlington; not the canal and (muddy) towpath. I was wishing I had the new bike already: fenders; disc brakes instead of wet rims; or take it home on the subway. It's expected to keep raining through the night and tomorrow, with some sleet tomorrow morning.
And it looks like our Internet is working again here at home.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/713460.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
The weather forecast was for rather warm today, and rain after midnight. My ride in was in the upper 60s°F/20°C, but the rain has already started. That's not what I wanted to commute home in. Our Internet was out the last couple of hours before I left home, so I couldn't check the weather sites for updates. ☹
The 3rd recumbent dealer (State College, PA) of the 3 I contacted replied today. He was not at all encouraging. He reduces his inventory over the winter, and doesn't get in anything new until the spring, so it sounds like he doesn't have much in his shop for me to ride. He recommended the first dealer (Alfred Station, NY) - the one that's farthest from me. ☹
The first guy replied again too, and he's talking more about what he's got in stock than about what I said I'm looking for. I guess I should have made clear that I don't expect anyone to have on hand exactly what I'm looking for. I expect I'm going to have to custom order from whatever manufacturer I pick. But I want to ride as many different bikes as possible to confirm or disprove my present conceptions of what I want - suspension, steering, brakes, shifters, seat - and the brand itself. After evaluating all that I will configure my optimal bike, and find out what it costs. And then wait for it to arrive - from Germany, or Czechoslovakia, or Holland, or Taiwan, or the US, or wherever.
He also mentioned that he doesn't let the bikes out when the roads are salted and wet, which I can understand. (I don't want to be out then either. Nor do I want to be driving 4-6 hours each way to visit any of these shops then.) That may make it hard to find opportunities to test ride this time of year.
The 2nd guy (Hamilton Square, NJ) was supposed to call me over the weekend, and maybe I missed it. There's a 4th guy possible, in Brooklyn, but I haven't contacted him yet. He charges $100 for demo sessions(!), but it's applicable to the purchase - kind of locks you in, so that's probably the last place I want to look. I could also get there on public transit, but if I had to go there to pick up a bike (other than a folding bike) it would be a real hassle. Then again, his website was the strongest plug for the HPV Grasshopper, my current top pick. (And something I probably could bring home via NYC Subway, MegaBus, and DC Metro.)
How come when I give these guys 2 lists of selection criteria, the necessary list and the nice list, they suggest things that meet the nice list but not the necessary list? If I say full (i.e. front+rear) suspension and disc brakes are essential, and folding is a big bonus, why do they suggest folding bikes that don't have suspension? I'm thinking "Hmmm, some nice-sounding brands I missed..." and I go look them up and find that they don't meet my stated requirements. I didn't miss them. I'd already dismissed them. And forgotten them. If they think suspension is not essential, they need to make that case, and then suggest non-suspended bikes. I'm trying to not waste their time; I wish they wouldn't waste mine.
If I want both wheels the same size so I don't need 2 sizes of tires and tubes, do you think I would want disc brakes on one wheel and rim brakes on the other? (a) I don't want to buy/carry 2 kinds of replacement pads, and (b) disc brakes were on my necessary list; I'm tired of dealing with rim brakes.
Well, the ride home wasn't too bad. 44°F/6.7°C in the shed when I parked the bike. A big change from the 68°F/20°C when I got to work. The last temperature reported from the airport when I left the office was 52°F/11.1°C, so that's a big drop on the road. Cold front coming in? The rain had stopped, but the roads were wet. I took my alternate route, Pennsylvania Ave and M St through Georgetown, and across Key Bridge to Arlington; not the canal and (muddy) towpath. I was wishing I had the new bike already: fenders; disc brakes instead of wet rims; or take it home on the subway. It's expected to keep raining through the night and tomorrow, with some sleet tomorrow morning.
And it looks like our Internet is working again here at home.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/713460.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]