My morning, as a sitcom ("Greenenders", with thanks to Pete)

[jack]

Some people have lives told in Shakespearean style. Bleak house. Austen. Saki. Anything. I have sitcom. Oh well :)

This will be represented as a rapid sequence of scene cuts, as I move from one bike shop to the other. Some humour will be evinced in repetition, some in breaking the repetition.

** 'blinds' transition **
Me: I see you have a selection. What's the difference between this £100 bike, and this £130 bike?
Him: *gormless look* It costs more. It has a, uuuhh, *looks at bike* better frame. And different coloured gears.
** 'blinds' transition **
Me: So, do you have any bikes less tall than I am for under £230 pounds?
Him: No.
** 'blinds' transition **
Me: I'm looking for a town bike?
Him: *shocked look*
** 'blinds' transition **
Me: I'm looking for a bike?
Him: I'm sorry sir, this is a hardware store.
** 'blinds' transition **
Me: Two all-beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun.
Him: I'm sorry sir, this is subway.
** series of shots of me muching through a sandwich looking tired **
** 'blinds' transition **
Me: I'm looking for a town bike?
** long pan down ten meter long row of off-road bikes costing £300 **
** 'blinds' transition **
Me: I'm looking for a town bike?
Him: Why are you late for work?
Me: Well, I was *going* to ride in...

*sigh* And all those 0.14s transitions took me half an hour of walking. At least I had a book and a plot to write. But I'm 5'10 or 5'11, I'm not *that* short.

I thought it might be as easy as last time. Where else should I go?

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Go out as a woman and you will be guaranteed to find bicycles that are too short for you and useless off-road.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

And they'll try and sell you pretty pink accessories when you ask them what kind of brakes it has.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

We could swap. I want a shorter non-off-road bike. And am ok with pink so long as the bike works :)

Do they really do that? I mean, surely most people at 20+ spending £100 on a bike might be ignorant, though that's equally insulting, but do *any* want pink frills? Other than Edith? :)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Consider the huge number of undergraduates who come to Cambridge in order to set themselves up with a nice rich man and have babies and spend almost as much time saying "Laike aa maiy gud, hev yeu seeeeen the gayl in my staircase, she ac'sh'laaay hends in supervision work, hay unfeshionable" as they do in lectures. Yes, there are a plenty large number who want trendy accessories more than they want the brakes to actually work.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I suppose so. Oh well, I'm sure Darwin will make it all ok.

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

Weird, I found a brilliant bike in the first shop I looked. (Townsends, on Chesterton Road). It's a Raleigh town bike and I <3 it lots.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

So did I[1]. Then, 6 months on, it crashed catastrophically and I looked *again* :)

[1] OK, I looked round some others first but just to get an idea.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I will look there first when it's new bike time!

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, that's hardly the bike's fault ;)

I just got a folding bike from Halfords, and ye gods is it hard to ride.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

A folding bike could be fun. Why is it so bad?

I will certainly try Townsends. I should have on my way out, but didn't think of it.

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

Mini wheels and no gears.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. I'd almost like a compromise. I don't think I really need 18 gears, but I need more than 1...

The mini wheels is funny when you see someone big on them. But is good for train/bike combos, I guess?

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, foldability for teh win. I'd love a brompton, but hey, I'm not rich.

Having six gears suits me fine on my town bike, perfect for Cambridge -- even Castle Hill.

[naath.livejournal.com]

The place on King's parade has some very expensive bikes that are shiny. Halfords usually has good, reasonably priced bikes.

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

Heh. As an ex-cyclist, I can relate to all this. Last time I bought a bike, I had to get a second-hand one because the shops wouldn't sell me anything other than a mountain bike, which is no earthly use for long-distance riding on roads. I am wondering exactly how long it will take the general population to work this out; in the meantime I can no longer ride a regular bike anyway because of my wrists, but I've been told I may be OK with a recumbent.

I suggest you advertise for a second-hand one. Good luck!

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

*sigh* It's more no-one seemed at all happy to see me. If you don't want customers, couldn't you shut or something, rather than just glaring at people who come in and make them feel guilty?

Second hand. It would suit me fine, but last time I looked there seemed to be little, presumably because there was much demand and only a surge of supply every june...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Are bromptons famously leet? I believe Mobbsy got one.

I mean, I *can* treat myself to something expensive if I want to, but since all I want is to move myself two miles in less than half an hour I don't really...

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

You possibly need to get to know dave_rainbow. Not that his retail business will be of any direct interest to you unless you have any good reason to buy lingerie or jewellery, but you will be much cheered by his attitude to the way a retailer ought to behave... and he does put it into practice magnificently, I must say.

Never feel guilty about being in a shop. If for some obscure reason the retailer doesn't want your custom, that's their loss, not yours!

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

Bromptons are merely l33t cos they fold and have gears. IMHO. :) Oh, and are light enough as to be carryable, whereas my folding bike is a bit of a heavy bugger.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

*hug* Thank you.

The things is, *last* time the people in the same shops *were* polite, nice and helpful. I suppose if he knows he's not going to sell anything, there's no point, but this time I was if anything better dressed and more determined to give someone money in the next ten minutes than last time! :)

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

My bike is from Halfords. It cost me £60 and so far it has failed to fall apart although I did have an exciting failure of my front brakes on Drummer Street.

If you wait a week or so they'll probably have some cheap bikes to try and entice new students. The bike shop down Botolph Lane also had some slightly nicer and still cheap bikes when I looked last year, and they've been very good when I've been in for repairs.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Liz!

Does it matter which halfords? I stopped in Newmarket Road because it was on my way back and it looked like everything was a mountain bike.

Why does everyone warn against Halfords, then?

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

Because the bikes are a bit crap, made with the cheapest components possible, and tend to rust quickly and sometimes break. However, they are dirt cheap, and I knew my bike was going to have to live outdoors so it didn't seem worth buying an expensive one and faffing with insurnace.

Don't buy a lock from them, mine kept jamming at inconvenient times.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. I wasn't going to faff with insurance either way; It'll probably get stolen once in my life and insurance*60>bike else insurance companies would go bust. More.

Maybe I will. I already have a lock.

[tienelle.livejournal.com]

Are mountain bikes that bad? I'm entirely happy with mine: it was cheap, it lets me cycle, and most of the parts are standard. Also it weighs too much to steal.

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

Depends what you want it for. I was a long-distance road cyclist... in the Peak District. And occasionally, when I visited my parents, also in the Lake District. A mountain bike won't hack it over that kind of route.

*exerts extreme self-control in not geeking madly about previously owned fast touring bike*

[ceb.livejournal.com]

University Cycles by Mitchams Corner; I wanted exactly what you want (except that I hadn't ridden in years and was very nervous about it) and he had a choice of suitable ones including several very good 2nd hand, and let me borrow several to try (and insisted on me trying the one I eventually got for a week before paying for it). (Mine was L140 IIRC and I like it lots.)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

That's what everyone said. But today he was the one who just said "No" when I asked if he had any bikes. He was leaving on holiday so I assume he'd run his stock down. But that doesn't help me.

OTSH, he didn't say "Come back then" or anything...

[mair_in_grenderich]

bromptons are lovely, yes.

[mair_in_grenderich]

there's a roundabout, near newnham village, on the end of the fen causeway, where they sometimes have ex-hire bikes cheap and second hand. I've always been a bit suspcious - presumably they're ex for a reason ...

[atreic.livejournal.com]

I bought my Giant town bike from Mikes Bikes, on Mill Road. He did me a deal where I got lights, panniers, and a D lock, and the bike, for about 200.

Chris's bikes in Girton is where I always get said bike fixed, and he sells bikes and is really nice and helpful. Bit of a way out though (just before Girton college, on Thornton Road)!

[minipoppy.livejournal.com]

Well if you consider buying something from Townsends or H Drakes I've got a thing to get 5% off new bikes if it is of any help. Or up to 20% off servicing/labour if you decide to stick with the old one. It came with my job - discounts on bikes - because my employers are trying to promote alternative transport to work. It's pretty much the only perk I get (other than the ability to do science experiments at will) and I've never been able to use it because I'm still using the same bike I got for my twelfth birthday (I *still* haven't grown into it) and it's great!