I had a lot of free time this weekend after work so I spent all of my time jumping from one bike store to the next to do some price shopping. I've decided not to use the bike store names so I'll just give them numbers. The first place I visited with the Labor Day sale bringing the Fuji Touring bike from $910 down to $745 will be called #1. The second store where my friend works will be called #2. The third store, the eastside store of #2 will be called #3. The fourth store is the sister store of #1 and will be called #4. Is that confusing enough?
So I went to store #2 to see what sort of deal I could get from my friend but she wasn't there. My other friend was there and I ended up speaking to him about bikes and equipment for close to an hour. At #2 there were only Cannondales which were on sale down to about $1140. That's out of my price range. I biked all the way out to #3 because they supposedly had the Trek 520 which is the middle of the line bike as far as cheap touring bikes go. They were out of stock for the Trek 520s. The '06 season ended as of Labor Day and the '07 season is just starting. My first friend from #2 told me I should usually go with the middle of the road bike, but after much careful contemplation, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with the low-end bike and later in life when I have enough money I'll buy the most expensive bike out there. The differences between the bikes seem like things I can deal with. At #4, the Trek 520 was going for $1099, putting it between the Fuji and the Cannondale in price. The Fuji is the heaviest of the bikes by 1-2 lbs. I can deal with a bike which weighs only a pound more and saving $350. Some of the components in the derailleurs are of higher quality which means the shifting will be slicker and more reliable, but again I don't think it's worth the $350. Also, if I buy from #1 I'll get a 15% discount on all equipment on a one-time purchase. The panniers (the bags which fit over the back rack) at #2 were more expensive ($150) but seemed better fit for my needs, meaning they were waterproof and converted easily to a shoulderbag. When I visited #2 yesterday my friend was working and we shot the shit for about an hour before I asked about a discount while being careful not to let anyone else around hear about my dastardly plan. She clearly didn't want to talk about it at work and seemed to think I only meant about equipment. I only asked her at work because I figured that since the Labor Day sale was going on for the next day I needed to make some quick decisions. I still haven't talked to her outside of work but I've been leaning heavily towards the Fuji at #1. I went back to #1 yesterday and spoke to the manager about the bike. They had one left of my size and he said he could put it aside for me for only $50 on layaway until I made the entire $745. He said after the Labor Day Sale was over it would only go up to $795 so I didn't feel as pressured to buy it, and I felt like I could convince him to keep it at $745 if I came back in because he's in charge of the pricing and probably wants to get rid of the '06 models so he can put the '07 models up. Apparently there's absolutely no change between the '06 and the '07 models. Hopefully sometime this week I'll have all my financial ducks in a row so i'll be able to put at least $50 down for the bike and nab the 58 cm frame before someone buys it. The salesman at #3 convinced me that the S.T.I. gear shifters are bad for touring because if they break you're S.O.L. (S.T.I. gear shifters shift when you push the brake levers perpendicular to the bike frame instead of pulling on them to brake whereas bar-end shifters are much more simple and don't have nearly as many moving parts). I've decided that S.T.I. shifters are really fun and slick and would only break if I got in some terrible accident. In short, I've decided to get the Fuji. It looks a lot slicker than the other bikes just based on the colors of the frame and I had a really good feeling about it right away.
I've had the greatest time learning about bikes over the last week or so. I almost don't want to buy a bike just so I can learn more while shopping around.
I've also been having my first doubts about the whole idea of a bike tour. I watched Before Sunrise and Before Sunset last night and they made me want to take trains around Europe instead of biking. I need to run off to work now though so I'll pursue this thought in another blog.
So I went to store #2 to see what sort of deal I could get from my friend but she wasn't there. My other friend was there and I ended up speaking to him about bikes and equipment for close to an hour. At #2 there were only Cannondales which were on sale down to about $1140. That's out of my price range. I biked all the way out to #3 because they supposedly had the Trek 520 which is the middle of the line bike as far as cheap touring bikes go. They were out of stock for the Trek 520s. The '06 season ended as of Labor Day and the '07 season is just starting. My first friend from #2 told me I should usually go with the middle of the road bike, but after much careful contemplation, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with the low-end bike and later in life when I have enough money I'll buy the most expensive bike out there. The differences between the bikes seem like things I can deal with. At #4, the Trek 520 was going for $1099, putting it between the Fuji and the Cannondale in price. The Fuji is the heaviest of the bikes by 1-2 lbs. I can deal with a bike which weighs only a pound more and saving $350. Some of the components in the derailleurs are of higher quality which means the shifting will be slicker and more reliable, but again I don't think it's worth the $350. Also, if I buy from #1 I'll get a 15% discount on all equipment on a one-time purchase. The panniers (the bags which fit over the back rack) at #2 were more expensive ($150) but seemed better fit for my needs, meaning they were waterproof and converted easily to a shoulderbag. When I visited #2 yesterday my friend was working and we shot the shit for about an hour before I asked about a discount while being careful not to let anyone else around hear about my dastardly plan. She clearly didn't want to talk about it at work and seemed to think I only meant about equipment. I only asked her at work because I figured that since the Labor Day sale was going on for the next day I needed to make some quick decisions. I still haven't talked to her outside of work but I've been leaning heavily towards the Fuji at #1. I went back to #1 yesterday and spoke to the manager about the bike. They had one left of my size and he said he could put it aside for me for only $50 on layaway until I made the entire $745. He said after the Labor Day Sale was over it would only go up to $795 so I didn't feel as pressured to buy it, and I felt like I could convince him to keep it at $745 if I came back in because he's in charge of the pricing and probably wants to get rid of the '06 models so he can put the '07 models up. Apparently there's absolutely no change between the '06 and the '07 models. Hopefully sometime this week I'll have all my financial ducks in a row so i'll be able to put at least $50 down for the bike and nab the 58 cm frame before someone buys it. The salesman at #3 convinced me that the S.T.I. gear shifters are bad for touring because if they break you're S.O.L. (S.T.I. gear shifters shift when you push the brake levers perpendicular to the bike frame instead of pulling on them to brake whereas bar-end shifters are much more simple and don't have nearly as many moving parts). I've decided that S.T.I. shifters are really fun and slick and would only break if I got in some terrible accident. In short, I've decided to get the Fuji. It looks a lot slicker than the other bikes just based on the colors of the frame and I had a really good feeling about it right away.
I've had the greatest time learning about bikes over the last week or so. I almost don't want to buy a bike just so I can learn more while shopping around.
I've also been having my first doubts about the whole idea of a bike tour. I watched Before Sunrise and Before Sunset last night and they made me want to take trains around Europe instead of biking. I need to run off to work now though so I'll pursue this thought in another blog.
posted by Nels at 8:20 AM
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