01 June 2011

church of the semi-custom touring bike.

A month or so ago, my brother's neighbor let him know that she had a bike she was looking to offload. She had bought the bike new, but couldn't ride it any more because she has started to shrink. The bike is now too big for her.


At about the same time, I went to war with the Old Dutch Treat. Riding it uphill when late for school and saddled with twenty books was not much of a treat. When my brother mentioned that he had dibbsed his neighbor's bike for me to test ride, I was game. I was ready. I wanted the bike as soon as I heard about it.


Coming home to Washington to buy a bike might seem obtuse, but the bike had a couple of things going for it. I've got a short inseam, and it's an unusually small bike and it's in fantastic shape. (Girl moment: It is also a sweet indigo color and has stars on it!!) It saved me a lot of leg work as far as bike shopping goes. The bike is living in my brother's garage, so he's helping me shine it up. So far BB has put on new brake levers, new handlebar tape (cork!), and swapped out the seat. New Philly-ready tires are on the way. And perhaps most enjoyably, I have a month to ride it around Tacoma with the nicest folks in deliciously mild weather. 


2 comments:

Kara said...

You had me at stars! Seems like it is aptly named: Stellar.

portlandize.com said...

Heh, if your weather in Tacoma right now is anything like it is in Portland, it's not so mild :) I barely missed the dumping rain on the way to work this morning :) Happy summer!

Looks like a great bike, though!