Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Meet The New Bike

This February, emboldened by my visit with the good folk at Natural Cycle, I determined to disassemble my trusty old bicycle and give it the sophisticated attention it so desperately needed. I took the bike into the basement, pulled out my tools and carefully laid them out the way a surgeon might. Then I retrieved my manuals and set them beside the tools.

I considered my first move.

Then I reconsidered. Why not see what it would cost to get a pro to do this? I took it to my local outfitters, and asked.

"So you want a basic overhaul?" he said.

"Well, certainly that. But there are a few other things I'll need as well." I began to enumerate, and watched as his eyes glazed over.

"Well ... I can do that," he said, once I finished my list. "I have to give you fair warning, though. Here's what it's going to cost, not including parts replacement."

He told me. It was time for my eyes to glaze over. I cleared my throat and said, "Remember that bike we talked about last spring? It's a cyclocross model."

"The Jake?"

"That's the one. What's the sticker price?"

"Actually, I've got two left over from last season that I'm trying to get rid of."

"Any chance one of those might fit me?" I asked.

"Oh, there's a pretty good chance, I'd say...."

3 comments:

DarkoV said...

So,
what is the Theft Factor on the Jake v. the Old Trusty Bike.

Just' wonderin' based on the hooligan population that you post on occasionally.

Whisky Prajer said...

I guess I'm about to find out. There isn't much bicycle theft out this way -- for some reason they're not as popular a target as anything with an internal combustion engine. The bikes that do disappear are usually from the school lot, and those are typically high-end mountain bikes that weren't locked up. Three years ago I bought my wife a Trek mountain bike that I thought would qualify. Our garage has been broken into several times, but no-one has ever bothered with her bike, or anything other than the car. And that was safe, too -- because we take the keys with us when we're done driving it.

Still and all, I'm nervous, if not quite to the point of vigilance.

Trent Reimer said...

First, DarkoV that is an amazing avatar.

Secondly, that is a great looking bike.