My bike

I have a new bike. It's sleek and shiny.

As the bike expert and I searched for a bike, we started with a vague idea of the type of bike I needed. Need being a loose term of course - are your needs the same as your wants? Well . . . I wanted a mountain bike. I needed a road bike. The compromise of course was the hybrid. We were looking at hybrids. The more we looked, the more we came to understand what I needed and the more we couldn't find it.

We knew that middle range components were the right range. I didn't need the top of the line and the bottom ones, well the snob in me wasn't going to get a bike with sub-par parts. Not when I knew the names of better components. I was having trouble keeping the derailers ranked correctly so the expert gave me a list which I carefully carried. Quick, how far from bottom is Alivio? Four! YES! I'm not sure you're supposed to do a victory dance in the store when you get it right. Then again, three weeks ago, I wouldn't have had a clue what he was talking about, which was clearly grounds for doing another victory dance.

There was ensuring that the geometry of the bike was appropriate and the expert was stuck on a front suspension. I could have cared less, but you listen to your advisor and his rationale and you go, ok, whatever, you win.

I also wanted rapid fire shifters. I didn't trust the other sort.

Privately, I was not going to get a bike that screamed girl. Younger brothers will do that to you. You get scared for life.

We returned to the store where we had had the best luck. They'd rearranged the store. Using my newfound knowledge, I explain to the sales assistant the bike we were looking at last time used to be here. Where I was looking, there was no longer a bike rack. Upon further questioning, I explained that it was blue. She looked at the expert. He obligingly translated. So they didn't have that bike anymore. We were back to square one.

We pulled out the mental check list. A few bikes seemed to be a possibility. Then I discovered the shifters were not rapid fire. The sales assistant assured me that they could be changed. I looked at her. She went and confirmed. "On this bike, it would be easy. "

As I rolled the bike towards the door for the test drive, the expert looked at the bike.
"I have good feeling about this one."

I was still annoyed about the shifters. The first thing I noticed was that my back didn't start to hurt and the seat was comfortable. I then realised that the bike was light and the crank was really smooth. I headed for a pot hole. Not too bad. I then took it on gravel. Nice. I was almost sold.

There were a few things I wanted to double-check on the bike and I caused the sales assistant some problems by asking to see various parts of the bike moved into another position. It looked like this might be the bike. So I handed it over to the expert and said, "You try it."

Upon his return, we regrouped and went through our mental check list - components, check, shifters, with adjustment, check, suspension, check, geometry, check, comfortable seat, check. It was black and silver and not some baby blue or fuchsia so I was happy.

I had found a bike, the bike. The perfect bike. We could put a check mark next to everything on the list. We had found the bike we were beginning to think might not exist in Ottawa. It seemed surreal.

Buying a bike is hard work. Making the decision about what else to get is even harder. By the time we had finished, I was exhausted. Then it slowly sunk in, we had found a bike. It was reality. I had a bike, which was clearly grounds for another victory dance.

In riding the bike home from the store, I quickly realised that the expert was right, as always when it's bike related, to insist on front suspension. Pot holes and cracks are everywhere. Front suspension makes all the difference.