Beach Bikes

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call HART crazy .. but

At the beach there are about 5-6 bikes that range between 20-40 years old – mostly girl bikes. Not one supports me, my weight, my height and general disposition of enjoyment in riding bicycles in a beachy gravel-road area that has hills and inclines!

Ugh .. not to mention that everytime we go out to the beach the tires go flat, and you have to manually pump air into the tires. How sick is that?

Well … No More!

* I bought a cordless AIRMAN air compressor, that’s like those Dewalt tools .. you just charge up the battery and pop it in the hand-held compress gun … What a bargain! $69.99 CDN .. Actually, my wife found a coupon this weekend for a similar model for $49.99 CDN and I might do a swap this week.

So now that I have an air compressor, I thought I would look for a bike. My brothers have suggested that I just go to a pawn shop or find someone who doesn’t drive, has a bike and is desperate for cash and buy it off of him or her. But, I have bikes that are just there – available – for use. I hate them! I went biking a the last time I was out at the beach and I couldn’t figure out what was happening everytime I went up or down an incline! It seems, the gears were a bit touchy and it was automatically shifting gears on me – half way. Plus, they are ten speeds. I hate those handle bars.

So – I figure I should do a little research and buy me a brand new bicycle .. BUDGET = $150 – $200 CDN .. “ish”.

Well, the first website I saw online (can’t remember the URL) went something like this .. Thinking of buying a brand new bike? First go to your nearest discount department or automotive store and look at the bicycles offered for sale … These are what junk looks like. Do not buy them under any circumstances!

A little harsh, but I get the point … so I went to a local bike store. It was quite busy inside, but no one seemed to want to help me. I wanted some questions answered. Questions like:

* what’s a good bike for my size and weight?
* what’s a good bike for the beach?
* what’s a good bike to go biking for hours on end?
* etc etc

No one would help me. So, I looked around and looked at the prices .. I almost had a heart attack! $2,199 CDN For a bicycle? ARE THEY NUTS? Do bikes really go for that much? I looked around some more .. and more .. and more .. and NOTHING in that store was for less than $800. I left immediately.

Down the street there was another bike store. I walked over and jaunted in. I told the guy right off the bat, that I would like some questions answered, but my budget was only $150-$200 CDN. He said that the lowest they have is about $300-$350 range and up. (MUCH BETTER THAN THE OTHER PLACE). He also said that if you go to the discount store, it would be best if you take a cheap bike to a professional bike store to RE-ASSEMBLE the bike – so it doesn’t fall apart when you are driving it. The discount stores usually get some warehouse guys to assemble the bikes and put them on display, and the public either takes the sample directly out of the store .. or, if it’s in the box they might ask the warehouse clerk to assemble before it leaves the warehouse. Haste makes waste!

That made sense to me. I started asking questions anyway, and there was a really nice lady there who overheard all of my questions. She said that I have similar biking interests as her .. and she bought THIS bike (pointing to one hanging up on the wall) .. and swears it’s the best bike she ever had!

That sold me actually. I asked how much it was, and it was $375 CDN. I said I would be back. That was last week.

This week – I took my wife to that shop to show her .. it’s funny, because outside they had a similar bike and she pointed out that something like “THAT” might be okay. Actually – it was the same bike!

I took it for a test spin. It’s great. There are no gears to shift. There are no brake handles to worry about, because you brake by turning the pedals backwards. It had a great big fat seat for my (slightly) big fat ass. It had a great suspension shocks! It also had giant fat 2-1/4″ tires that really cut down the vibrations and going on gravel!

What is this miracle bike?

It’s a Brand New Deluxe Flyer 26″ Men’s Bicycle! Woot!

I added a really nice or “Cute” looking wickar basket for the front and a necessary bell/buzzer. Total prices with taxes is $460 CDN .. my wife offered to pay $200 CDN towards it (it’s my birthday present) .. and I coughed up the rest! Not bad for a $260 CDN bike! Well, actually more like $460 CDN .. I ended up going shopping afterwards, bought lunch, shoes, clothes, more clothes, pants, a hat, and other miscellaneous items for about $200 anyway .. That’s life I guess.

Unfortunately, I can’t find a picture for you online. You will have to wait until I get it out to the beach and take pictures. You see, I had to take it apart already so it will fit in my car for the trip out there. Oh well. It’s nice.

Here are a couple pictures .. first one is the actual “Western” Flyer model circa 1950’s I saw somewhere on the internet .. the second is a 1980’s model replica of the 1950’s “Western” Flyer model I saw somewhere on the internet .. My bike is a new bike model 2006 but looks a lot like the ladies bike, in a man’s bike of course.

Mine’s not a “western” flyer, but a “Deluxe” model.

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