A New Bicycle

It's summer and the weather is HOT! I've been eyeing the bikes at the department store (Home Plus) I frequent almost on a daily basis. I should have bought one last fall when they were all on sale. Dummy me!

Anyways, I was not too crazy about the build quality of them as I used to own high end bikes when I was younger. A silver colored Cannondale was the last bike I owned and that was about 20 years ago (which tells you how long its been since I've been on a bike), give or take a few years. But, things have come a long way since those times and some of the low end bikes of today would have been considered high end back then. Times have indeed changed!

So, over the past few weeks, I have been testing out bikes at different stores. The two department stores (Home Plus and Grand Mart, how strange the E-Mart near me does not seem to have bikes) across the street from me had a decent selection. The two bike shops on my way to school had some good bikes as well, especially the place I ended up buying from. This place even had high end bikes close to the 2G mark. Nice stuff! But, they weighed no less than the garden variety bike I eventually bought (slightly better quality than the department store bikes). Except for the high end components, which were really nice, the equal weight factor surprised me. I guess all of the suspension components on today's bikes really weigh them down. I didn't expect that on a high end bike. Hence, I bought a simple one with basic components that does the job just fine. As I do not know how long I would be living in this country, an expensive investment in a high end bike would be a bit difficult to take with me if and when I had to move, or leave.

And, I'm very happy with my new bike. It's quite an agile and comfortable ride given the suspension fork. I swore I would never buy another aluminum bike again after the harsh ride of the Cannondale, but the suspension fork makes a world of difference. Hitting a curb felt like nothing. Bumpy sidewalks, it's suicide to ride the streets here, were not even noticeable. I had an enjoyable half hour ride after dinner to get back my balance and handling skills after such a long time of not riding. And, for less than US $200 (it was on sale, WooHoo!), not bad at all!!!

As you can see from my pix, the new bike is safely nestled within my home-made spiderweb of laundry lines and drying clothes. It's quite happy there in its new home. :)

Update I (June 21, 2010):
Well, the E-Mart near me does have a bicycle section. It's just so small I completely missed it before!!! And, there's another bicycle shop near where I live, too. I came across this one while cycling in my neighborhood. I'd seen it before, but just forgot about it till I saw it again.

Update II (July 3, 2010):

I found yet another bike shop in my neighborhood. And, this place has some really, really, high end bikes. Some famous international name brands here as well. Upwards of 5G. And, less than 10kg. Wow!