I Just -- FINALLY -- Bought A Bike Today!!!



SierraSlim

Active Member
Oct 4, 2010
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0
[SIZE= 14px][COLOR= #0000ff]Hey, y'all![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 14px][COLOR= #0000ff]I'm copying this over from the Bike Cafe forum where I had put it, because some of my friends couldn't seem to find it. So I don't really need advice on buying the bike; I just wanna know what you think of my choice. Thanks! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff]http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecsFB.aspx?Year=2010&Brand=Raleigh&Model=Calispel%20I8%20Women's&Type=bike[/COLOR][SIZE= medium] [/SIZE]
[COLOR= #0000ff]
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It looks tan in the picture, but is really a warmer metallic color, kind of a pale burnished gold. It wasn't the prettiest of the bikes I tested, but it's the one that felt the best and that I didn't want to get off of, so that's what we went by. The salesman actually spent 3 literal hours with us, measuring me with this special laser thingie that measures shoulder width, pubic bone height, arm length, and height, and formulates some geometry thing that tells him which type of bike I need. He answered all my questions (and then some), and asked me so many it was like being interviewed for a big job, lol. After all the measuring and the questions and the discussing exactly what I want to do with biking, he brought out 4 different ones brands/styles for me to ride around the parking lot. [/SIZE]
[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= medium]I was so impressed; he actually took each one back to the repair part of the shop and made sure the tire pressure was good and everything was trued, and then measured each one with this big thing that he had calibrated to the geometry I need, and adjusted each seat and handlebar to fit me. After riding the 4 around the parking lot, this one ended up wanting to come home with me. But the bike in the store was actually a medium and I need a large (He said he could tell by watching me ride, though the medium felt good to me), so they have to order it, and it won't be available for a week -- which means I don't get to see it until after we get back from Hawaii November 23, darn it. [/COLOR]
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[SIZE= medium]I'm already having buyer's remorse, wondering if I should have bought one of the other 4 bikes that I thought was prettier, lol. But this one really felt better under me than that one, and I'm trying to be practical for maybe the first time in my life. I don't think it's UGLY, mind you, it just doesn't make my heart go pittypat like some do. And I may like the looks better once I actually see mine fitted with its rack and fenders and basket and bell and all the pretties. It was also fairly cheap in comparison to what we were expecting to pay, coming to $570 or so with tax and shipping, so Frugal Hubby is very happy about that. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE= medium]Anyway, I bought a bike, and am glad to have the search over with. Now to get to actually riding again!![/SIZE]

[COLOR= #0000ff][SIZE= medium]Sierra[/COLOR][/SIZE]
 
Good on ya, Sierra, I think this is a more appropriate forum for this post. But see my response on accessorizing in the Cafe forum. BTW, my wife's bike is a Raleigh with approximately the same type frame, but in steel (it's heavy) and with a 7-speed rear derailleur setup. Happy riding! Steve
 
Looks like a great choice. I have been reading your search for a while now. It took my wife and I months to get the right bikes, but we finally did it and found the perfect ones. Great seeing you found one!
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]Hi, Chris![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I always wondered who all those people were who viewed my posts without responding, lol. Welcome to Sierra's zany world! [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I am alternately thrilled with my choice and scared that I made the wrong one (which is par for Indecisive Sierra, who fortunately emerges rarely). I think all the fear will dissipate instantly when I can finally climb up on her and actually get moving again. (Notice I didn't say 'throw a leg over her.' I'm used to my flat-foot cruiser, so getting on is a challenge when the seat seems so high, lol.) I just keep making myself remember that it felt like she cuddled up to me and said, "Wanna play?" and just took off. Can't wait to feel that again! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I'm glad you and your wife found the right ones for you. What did you end up getting? I'm curious now about what other people want in their bikes.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Will look forward to hearing from you on here.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Happy pedaling! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif[/COLOR]
 
Hey Sierra!


Yeah, I read lots of posts on here, and a few of the other cyclig forums. I have gotten a lot of information off of them.

I saw where you were looking at a lot of different bikes. We did the sam thing, we were at all 5 of our local shops, a couple times each at a few of them, drove them nuts... We are really picky too about what we were getting. I was a former road biker/racer back in my late teens, early 20's(1985-1992) I have been off of bikes except for a couple times in the past riding a friends bike. I have ALWAYS had a thing for bikes. I would be driving along see a road bike and remeber, then daydream about being on one again. Now that I am 40, and need to get back in shape, I told my wife I want to get back on a bike. So we did. After riding a pair of Schwinn world GS's, Specialized Globe, Specialized crossroads, Giant Sedona, Trek 7000, Trek 7100, Trek 7.1FX we both ended up with Trek 7100 hybrids. When I rode back in the day I always owned Trek road bikes, and 1 Raleigh racing bike. I guess you could say my heart is still with Trek. As soon as I was on it I knew I liked it. I like Hybrids a lot, heck I didn't know they made them until last year!!! THAT is how long I have been out of the cycling world! Kinda like threadless heads...LOL. And brifters.... Didn't know about them until I began researching bikes. So I have caught myself up well with all these new fangled things.

Here is the exact one I bought below. So comfortable and easy to ride to get me back into shape.



I didn't stop there. I became obsessed... I wanted, and needed, a road bike, being I rode back when, I wanted something of a vintage era bike. Plus after spending $550 on my Trek alone I was not up to buying the $1100 Trek road bike I was drooling over in the store. I went to Ebay, typed in Trek vintage road bike and came up with this....



It's a 1994 model Trek 2120 touring bike. Somehow, for some reason, I won this bike for $200 and it was 20 minutes away!!! I was very lucky. It was ridden 128 miles all it's life, stored in a bedroom of a condo for 15 years.... All I bought was new tires, new brake pads, and new tape for the bars. It is absolutely a beautiful bike, it is still new.....

My wife has this bike in white... She is in love with it. It is a great bike too. Hers came with a back rack, and lights. I'll put a pic of it on here.



Now she too wants a road bike!!!! I have her obsessed...../img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

I have not told her yet, I want to get a mountain bike when we move back up to Massachusetts in a few months.... I think it might be a Trek....LOL Hey if I get one, I will have the best of all worlds of biking! yeah, you can say I am obsessed...

That one you bought is awesome. I like this internal hub gears, and they hardly ever need anything, they are great. Raleigh still makes a great bike!!!

Ride free, ride hard!!!

Chris
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]Chris,[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Your bikes are so cool! I looked at sooo many Trek bikes, and often considered getting one of them. Of course, I considered getting a LOT of bikes, lol. I really love the paint jobs on yours. And your wife's bike is so CUTE! You got really lucky on your ebay bike. Most of the ones I was interested in were across the country. But, being so new to biking, I was afraid to buy my first one without trying it on for size, anyway. Still, you can get (and you DID get) some good deals on ebay and Craigslist! [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]The bike I think I really want is the VIenna Deluxe 3 Women's. Picture isn't working, but here's the link. http://www.cycle-solutions.com/2010-Vienna-Deluxe-3-Womens-P3650.aspx I don't know if they're even making them in 2011, but I'll be watching for a used one in a year or so, lol. Hopefully I can find one in a prettier color. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I haven't actually always been into bikes. Never thought about them, really, until I wanted an exercise that didn't put weight on my knees, and decided to try it. Was hooked almost instantly!! Now it's almost all I think about, lol. The obsession seems to be contagious. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Dear Hubby has had an internal gear hub on his bike for 5-6 years now, and he LOVES the thing, says he'll never have anything else on his bikes. So that influenced me, particularly since he's my bike mechanic, lol. If I'd been able to get a derailleur, my bike search might have been a little easier. But I can't say that I'm unhappy about not having to worry about derailleurs and sprockets and chains grabbing my clothes and all. Plus I think it just makes the bike look prettier, lol, more streamlined and all.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]We're leaving for Hawaii day after tomorrow for 2 weeks (yaHOOOO for that!!!), and I can pick up my bike after we get back, so it will give me something to look forward to. That's a nice thing, because it's always hard coming back from Paradise, lol. Between my surgery last month and the bronchitis/pneumonia that followed, I haven't been on a bike in about a month now, so it will be like starting over for me. Can't wait, just the same. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Happy pedaling.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Sierra[/COLOR]
 
Okay, so by now you should be over your surgery ( I hope ) and be back from vacation.

So, how was Hawaii! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/cool.gif
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]Hey, Paramount![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]How's it going? I'm over my surgery, thanks for asking, over the pneumonia that followed, home from Maui, unfortunately, lol, and over the cold that a fellow passenger was kind enough to share with me. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Maui was FABULOUS. It was perfect in every way -- the weather, the ocean, the snorkeling, everything just came together into one long peaceful nirvana that I'm unhappy to be awakened from, but whatcha gonna do? Real life -- who needs it, lol. If I could live there, I wouldn't be back here, I'll tell you that. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]We had a condo on the ground floor 20 feet from the water. My favorite activity OUT of the water is sitting on the lanai with Dear Hubby and Bebe (my adult daughter), playing games and drinking pina coladas and watching the ocean change colors like it only does in Hawaii. That does NOT look like the same water we have on the California beaches! It may be blue in San Diego, but in Maui it goes from blue to teal to turquoise to green to cobalt to purple to orchid to lavender; most lovely thing I've ever seen. And it does those colors in unending kaleidoscopes and patterns and puzzle pieces all at the same time. It's mesmerizing. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Anyway, one day a sea turtle (they call it a Honu there, pronounced hoe-noo) came up on our beach for the day. He was big, about 3 feet from head to tail, and so mellow. He just laid there and sunned himself and dozed. Every once in a while he would raise his head and peer over at us for a few minutes as if wondering what the heck kind of turtles we were, and then go back to dozing. I was there when he decided to go back in the ocean, and found out that the poor things really struggle on dry land; he almost never got himself back into that water. It was take a lunge, then rest... lunge, then rest, lol. Poor baby. But he was gorgeous.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]On our way to snorkel on the island of Lanai, dolphins came and surrounded our boat and escorted us part of the way. They were jumping and twirling and doing acrobatics, and it was such fun to watch. And then they would swim right beside the boat and turn on their sides and look up at us while they swam, checking us out. If I'd had arms a little longer, I could have reached down and touched one! Loved every second.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]And the snorkeling was awesome. CRYSTAL clear water, visibility to 150-200 feet, with the most incredibly colored tropical fish you'll ever see. They look fake, they're so bright. There was one that was bright red in his front half, cobalt blue in his back half, with yellow polka dots on the blue part! Amazing. we also saw an EEL for the first time in the wild, a white one, about 4 feet long. He was GORGEOUS. And spooky, lol. And I saw an octopus's tentacle just before he jerked it back under the rock he was hiding under. Last year my son was snuba-ing, and he got to hold a baby octopus. I have a picture of it wrapped around his arm, so ugly and so cute at the same time.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Anyway, I love Hawaii. Can you tell, lol? And I've been freezing ever since we got back here. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif[/COLOR] But we'll go again next year.

[COLOR= #0000ff]Hope y'all were having fun here as well. Happy pedaling![/COLOR]
 
Originally Posted by SierraSlim .

[COLOR= #0000ff]Hey, Paramount![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]How's it going? I'm over my surgery, thanks for asking, over the pneumonia that followed, home from Maui, unfortunately, lol, and over the cold that a fellow passenger was kind enough to share with me. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Maui was FABULOUS. It was perfect in every way -- the weather, the ocean, the snorkeling, everything just came together into one long peaceful nirvana that I'm unhappy to be awakened from, but whatcha gonna do? Real life -- who needs it, lol. If I could live there, I wouldn't be back here, I'll tell you that. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]We had a condo on the ground floor 20 feet from the water. My favorite activity OUT of the water is sitting on the lanai with Dear Hubby and Bebe (my adult daughter), playing games and drinking pina coladas and watching the ocean change colors like it only does in Hawaii. That does NOT look like the same water we have on the California beaches! It may be blue in San Diego, but in Maui it goes from blue to teal to turquoise to green to cobalt to purple to orchid to lavender; most lovely thing I've ever seen. And it does those colors in unending kaleidoscopes and patterns and puzzle pieces all at the same time. It's mesmerizing. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Anyway, one day a sea turtle (they call it a Honu there, pronounced hoe-noo) came up on our beach for the day. He was big, about 3 feet from head to tail, and so mellow. He just laid there and sunned himself and dozed. Every once in a while he would raise his head and peer over at us for a few minutes as if wondering what the heck kind of turtles we were, and then go back to dozing. I was there when he decided to go back in the ocean, and found out that the poor things really struggle on dry land; he almost never got himself back into that water. It was take a lunge, then rest... lunge, then rest, lol. Poor baby. But he was gorgeous.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]On our way to snorkel on the island of Lanai, dolphins came and surrounded our boat and escorted us part of the way. They were jumping and twirling and doing acrobatics, and it was such fun to watch. And then they would swim right beside the boat and turn on their sides and look up at us while they swam, checking us out. If I'd had arms a little longer, I could have reached down and touched one! Loved every second.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]And the snorkeling was awesome. CRYSTAL clear water, visibility to 150-200 feet, with the most incredibly colored tropical fish you'll ever see. They look fake, they're so bright. There was one that was bright red in his front half, cobalt blue in his back half, with yellow polka dots on the blue part! Amazing. we also saw an EEL for the first time in the wild, a white one, about 4 feet long. He was GORGEOUS. And spooky, lol. And I saw an octopus's tentacle just before he jerked it back under the rock he was hiding under. Last year my son was snuba-ing, and he got to hold a baby octopus. I have a picture of it wrapped around his arm, so ugly and so cute at the same time.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Anyway, I love Hawaii. Can you tell, lol? And I've been freezing ever since we got back here. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif[/COLOR] But we'll go again next year.

[COLOR= #0000ff]Hope y'all were having fun here as well. Happy pedaling![/COLOR]

Your post brings back the memories, Sierra.

I've been to the Hawaiian Islands several times, but the last trip was in 1986, so it's been awhile.

I know how hard it always was for me on the last day of a vacation there, I loved it so much that I would get a little depressed because I had to leave.

Sounds like you all had a great time! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif
 
Wow - another northern cali biker enjoying Maui.... Great looking bike!!

I'm on my way to Maui in a couple weeks. I'm even considering renting a bike and going for a ride! I considered riding up Haleakala, but I'm not *quite* that crazy. - Down maybe, but I'm not ready for up....

Sounds like you had a great time! I'm looking forward to introducing my little guys to the joys of snorkling with the turtles....
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]Hi, CC![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Enjoy Maui!! (How could you not; I'm so jealous that you're going, lol.) [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I would NEVER discourage anyone from biking, but please look carefully into the ride down Haleakala. What the companies that charge you $100 to do that don't tell you is how many people have been killed and injured seriously every year while doing so. (It was people who live there that told me about it; the biking companies obviously try to keep it quiet). It's a very steep grade, with many turns, on the side of a mountain with bad drop-offs -- and beautiful scenery to distract you, on a bike you're not used to. I had planned to ride it down, myself, until I looked into the safety issue. It might be alright, if a) you're a very experienced biker, and b) you can keep your eyes on the twists and turns in front of you, instead of the scenery. I don't think I could, and that's when people go over the side. I'd give anything to be able to do that, but I know my limitations, lol. I'll settle for going up in the van, looking at the incredible sunrise, and coming back down in the van. That costs less, too; plus you don't freeze to death, lol.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I'm sure you will hear from bikers here who have done it and highly recommend it. Just please be careful. Your little boys need their Mom to take them snorkeling with sea turtles! If you're lucky, one will swim really close to you and check you out (they sometimes do that), or even crawl up on the beach and spend the afternoon with you, like one did last month with us. I'll post his picture below; he was about 4 feet long!. You can also check out my Maui sunset pictures in these forums, if you'd like.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]By the way, for the best breakfast on the planet with the most beautiful view, head to The Gazebo. It's on the shore of the Napili Shores Resort, I think it's called. You MUST try the macadamia nut, banana pineapple pancakes (big enough portion for 2 or 3). Three words: O.M.G. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drool.gif[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Thanks for the post! And have a blast in Maui. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Sierra[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff][/COLOR]
 

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