I’ve been nagging my manger for months now about getting a new bike. This past Sunday she ran the numbers and relented. My old bike, a Cannondale I converted to a single speed, was tired. I’ve had the thing since ‘97, and my brother had it for a few years before that. I’m guessing with all the mountain biking and commuting, the thing has over a thousand miles on it. Time to upgrade. We visited Bike Gallery’s Hollywood location and I test drove three bikes. Our salesman was busy, but gave us just enough attention and zero pressure. I know a bit about bikes, and once he realized that gave me plenty of space. I liked that. First I rode the Kona Dew Plus, a multi-geared commuter bike. Kate has this bike, and she loves it. It felt good, the disc brakes were responsive and the gears were…geary. Second, I tried the Trek Soho S, a single speed. I felt this bike had been engineered with me in mind. Sleek and sexy, a razor in a stiletto heel. The third bike I rode was way out of my price range, but I had to try it. The Trek District sported a new carbon fiber belt drive instead of a chain. It was so quiet and precise, a triumph in cycle design. In the end, the Soho was the one we took home, being the best value, fit, etc. Also: all black. A ninja among bikes, a light weight karate chop of forged aluminum.
Never Had a Bike be So Good.
3 June 2009 | bike, news | 8 Responses
Last Modified: 3 June 2009 @ 16:54
8 Responses
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I just got a bike, too. I went the Craigslist route, and got a Trek 7.2FX for $275. Good bike, good price, but it’s not the badass matte black finish like yours. I never even considered single-speed bikes; I live in San Francisco
@Barzelay- Your new bike is no slouch either, and at a good price. I don’t know if a single speed would be right for San Francisco. Here in Portland, the city is mostly flat.
Amazingly, a lot of SF hipsters and bike messengers ride single speed bikes. I can only assume that their legs are a hell of a lot stronger than mine.
Hey, by the way, have you heard of The Carlyle in Portland? One of my good friends recently moved to Portland and is now head bartender there.
I’m pretty sure this bike tried to hit on me downtown saturday night.
@ Barzelay- up here the hipsters ride fixed gears (no coasting? WTF?). Carlyle? Yeah I worked there as pastry guy for like 3 months
@ Abe- that little slut!! I’m going to lock her up tighter!!
http://thechive.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/a-funny-random-ds-23.jpg
Found another blog reader of yours…
@Scott D- hahahaha I think that might be relatives of mine…