Mah baaaaaaby
For a whole month, I've been embroiled in a long-running drama with a somewhat unscrupulous bike dealer in Dupont. Originally I was looking for a hybrid bike, that I could ride around town while not decimating it on one of DC's legendary potholes. I wandered into the store one Sunday afternoon, and the owner did his hard sell while I stood there passively and let him push the one bike he had in my size for me, assuring me it'd be perfect.
It was, of course, not perfect. It was a lumbering monstrosity of a bicycle, supposedly a mountain/road bike hybrid but resembling a Harley more than anything else. The thing rode at about the speed of a snail, it came almost to a stop when riding into the wind, and my legs would turn to rubber trying to take it up even the most modest hills. When I finally managed to haul it across the Woodley Park/Kalorama bridge, a pedestrian chuckled and said, "You need to put a motor on that thing!" Better yet, I should've just sprung for a Vespa.
Anyway, I lugged the bike back to P St., where I was informed that the store "did not do refunds on bikes." Of course the whole mess was partially my fault, since I didn't even think to ask about the return policy. The owner assured me that bike dealers generally can't do returns or refunds on bikes, owing to the general nature of the product. (This, I might add, is complete and utter bullshit: City Bikes in Adams Morgan has a 30 guarantee on their bikes, according to their website.) Luckily I managed to tap into my India experience and "negotiate," and he eventually agreed to take it for store credit.
So fast forward a couple of more weeks to today, when I walk out of the store with this:
Ohhhhh MY GOD. This creature is simply brilliant. As soon as my foot hits the pedal, I'm practically gliding through the streets. It corners like a sports car and it chews through hills like they're nothing. Hooray!
I just wish I'd bought a light for it, so I could be riding it right now. Maybe I'll roll my ass out of bed early tomorrow, just so I can ride it before heading to Delaware.
In the mean time, let us have one more admiring glance:
Mmmmm. Yummy.
It was, of course, not perfect. It was a lumbering monstrosity of a bicycle, supposedly a mountain/road bike hybrid but resembling a Harley more than anything else. The thing rode at about the speed of a snail, it came almost to a stop when riding into the wind, and my legs would turn to rubber trying to take it up even the most modest hills. When I finally managed to haul it across the Woodley Park/Kalorama bridge, a pedestrian chuckled and said, "You need to put a motor on that thing!" Better yet, I should've just sprung for a Vespa.
Anyway, I lugged the bike back to P St., where I was informed that the store "did not do refunds on bikes." Of course the whole mess was partially my fault, since I didn't even think to ask about the return policy. The owner assured me that bike dealers generally can't do returns or refunds on bikes, owing to the general nature of the product. (This, I might add, is complete and utter bullshit: City Bikes in Adams Morgan has a 30 guarantee on their bikes, according to their website.) Luckily I managed to tap into my India experience and "negotiate," and he eventually agreed to take it for store credit.
So fast forward a couple of more weeks to today, when I walk out of the store with this:
Ohhhhh MY GOD. This creature is simply brilliant. As soon as my foot hits the pedal, I'm practically gliding through the streets. It corners like a sports car and it chews through hills like they're nothing. Hooray!
I just wish I'd bought a light for it, so I could be riding it right now. Maybe I'll roll my ass out of bed early tomorrow, just so I can ride it before heading to Delaware.
In the mean time, let us have one more admiring glance:
Mmmmm. Yummy.
posted by Justin @ 11:09 PM
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