After trawling through a few of my old blog posts i realised that I have been lusting after a bike since I started this blog.. and before, but just not on the web!
i decided that it was crunch time.. it's getting to the summer, my office is moving, i had no excuses.. if i didnt get a bike now i was never going to!...
the problem is that they are just so expensive!... Pashleys are often £700!... i trawled the web and the cheapest dutch style bike is the Dawes.. coming in at £200 minimum, even ebay and gumtree bikes don't go for any less.. believe me!.. i've been bidding!
I was reluctant to spend £200 on a second hand bike that may be rusty or need work so when i found out the other day that Bobbins Bicycles were having a sample sale i knew i would be there.
nervous about huge crowds and battles over helmets (the American Apparel riot didnt help!) i got up scarily early and armed with a coffee got to the store for just after half 8 this morning.. there were only two other people nervously waiting.. and they were together!.. relieved i started to feel a bit silly for dashing down so early but as we waited more and more people turned up... easily enough to buy every bike the little shop had.
A list was put up in the window of the prices and descriptions.. only 3 were under £250. i had set myself a limit of £200, the price of the dawes, so nervously chatted to the other people waiting about which ones they wanted... obviously all the cheapest! A lovely pregnant lady gave me some tips on cycling, great!... but as my heart started beating faster and the adrenalin flowing all i could think of was that she was my compitition for the bikes!.. maybe this would be ruthless after all!
At 9 the doors opened .. and to my great relief they only let the first 4 of us in!... myself, the pregnant lady and the other girl all immedietly bought the 3 cheapest bikes! win!... there would have been no way i could afford the others!.
i am now the proud owner of a black pointer glorie drum bike!.. its so exciting!... and i bagged the only helmet in the sale!.. a lovely purple peaked number!
I was too scared to cycle straight to my meeting this morning but i had a few laps of the nearby square and i love it so much!... i am going to practice this weekend and start my proper commute on monday..
it doesn't have a basket yet, or front lights and i need to sort out insurance and locks this weekend so all in all it is a lot of money but i am so happy! my travelcard will be £150 a month after we move offices anyway and this way i get some excersise too!
The staff in the shop were so helpful and also great at reassuring me that the bike really is a bargain and much better quality than others!..
So now i can stop pining after one!.. and boring you all.. after these pictures anyway! xxxx
1 comment:
just saw this on the bobbins bicycles website!
Pointer
Pointer are a small company based in Friesland, Holland, an area that incidently has its own very special language. When we first visited their small factory a few years ago, we knew we were onto something rather special when the locals were wandering around in clogs. Established in the 1980s these lovely chaps handbuild and paint your classic, reliable, very good quality Dutch bicycle called 'Glorie'. We have a very special relationship with this company, being their exclusive UK dealer. These are the bikes that the Bobbin staff ride around town on.
Post a Comment