I got it. I got the itch and I need to scratch it. No, not more cow bell, well maybe more cowbell under the right circumstances..... I don't know what kind of bike I want. Well, that's a lie. I want a MTB and a road bike. It's the sub-kind and, most importantly, the BRAND that is tripping me up!
I want to ride my MTB by myself, for the most part, or with other guys just out having a good time. I have a really old Diamonback that was the first (and only ) brand new adult bike that I ever bought. It was pretty much retired and replaced by a clapped out Gary Fisher Advance which I have been beating into the ground lately. But the miles of neglect are starting to add up and it's starting to need thingsthat are adding up in cost. Spending a bunch of time and or money on a clapped out old Fisher that I could re-invest in new-tch is bugging me. But what to replace it with? 26er or 29er? I "know" I want a hard-tail. And that's where the story ends. I have ben facinated for years at the concept of "Hybrid" nbikes but can see no actual need for them. I'm thinking that if I go 29er that's close enough hat I can put some slicks on that bad-boy and call it a Hybrid for a ride or three and get that out of my system. Plus, I'm a sucky MTBer. So the 29er will be better over obsticals and stuff.
On the road side things turn different. I have a perfectly servicable Tricross Triple. It's Fine. Low level parts and super nont-flashy (it's Flat Black for crying out loud) and with all it's racks and fenders it's decidedly NOT sexy.I want to start riding with other people though to push myself and all that jazz. I KNOW that I'll be the week link and the slow guy and all that but I want to ahve a reasonable expectation that the slowness is coming from me and not the bike. I want a Roadie! I don't need one and roadies are expensive! Maybe a used Le Mond would fit the bill
Where the problem comes in is that I want something....cool. I know that the Treks and Canondales of the world are cheep, readily available and reasonably in-expensive but they are boring as heck! I want something.... else. Something interesting, different, unusual yet competent and "good". The Fisher is sufficiently un-Trek like I guess, but new Fishers ARE Treks. Yech! How about a Surly or an Independant Fabrication or something from an Italian Road Bike maker or some small shop in the USA? Sure, if money were leaking out of my pool instead of water. It ain't.) OK Surly isn't that expensive but I think you get the point.
So, if YOU were looking for a reasonably priced, COOL road bike or MTB what would YOU be looking at?
I want to ride my MTB by myself, for the most part, or with other guys just out having a good time. I have a really old Diamonback that was the first (and only ) brand new adult bike that I ever bought. It was pretty much retired and replaced by a clapped out Gary Fisher Advance which I have been beating into the ground lately. But the miles of neglect are starting to add up and it's starting to need thingsthat are adding up in cost. Spending a bunch of time and or money on a clapped out old Fisher that I could re-invest in new-tch is bugging me. But what to replace it with? 26er or 29er? I "know" I want a hard-tail. And that's where the story ends. I have ben facinated for years at the concept of "Hybrid" nbikes but can see no actual need for them. I'm thinking that if I go 29er that's close enough hat I can put some slicks on that bad-boy and call it a Hybrid for a ride or three and get that out of my system. Plus, I'm a sucky MTBer. So the 29er will be better over obsticals and stuff.
On the road side things turn different. I have a perfectly servicable Tricross Triple. It's Fine. Low level parts and super nont-flashy (it's Flat Black for crying out loud) and with all it's racks and fenders it's decidedly NOT sexy.I want to start riding with other people though to push myself and all that jazz. I KNOW that I'll be the week link and the slow guy and all that but I want to ahve a reasonable expectation that the slowness is coming from me and not the bike. I want a Roadie! I don't need one and roadies are expensive! Maybe a used Le Mond would fit the bill
Where the problem comes in is that I want something....cool. I know that the Treks and Canondales of the world are cheep, readily available and reasonably in-expensive but they are boring as heck! I want something.... else. Something interesting, different, unusual yet competent and "good". The Fisher is sufficiently un-Trek like I guess, but new Fishers ARE Treks. Yech! How about a Surly or an Independant Fabrication or something from an Italian Road Bike maker or some small shop in the USA? Sure, if money were leaking out of my pool instead of water. It ain't.) OK Surly isn't that expensive but I think you get the point.
So, if YOU were looking for a reasonably priced, COOL road bike or MTB what would YOU be looking at?
My son got a rebuilt Shogun at Bikes Not Bombs in Jamaica Plain that might scratch your road bike itch. Might be worth paying them a visit to see what they've got.
ReplyDeleterod
WHen we were kids my brother had a Shogun bike. He got it right after the TV Mini-Series Shogun came out and I had never heard of the brand before, so I thought that it was a rip-off from the show!
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