Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 15:01:45 EST At the shop I work at, we get almost this question pretty often, usually from someone with an old bike that they want to replace with a newer one. Since we don't carry new bikes yet, they usually ask after seeing the prices in other local shops. Then they ask "what's the best bike?"
My answer is usually "the one you ride the most" -This is a good opener to discuss what they want to do with the bike. There really is no "best" bike, just one that's best for what you want to do, that fits your budget or willingness to spend.
For most of our customers, that means some repairs to whatever old bike they have. Or some change to the current bike to make it more comfortable.
Steve Birmingham Lowell, Ma
From: Wornoutguy@aol.com To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Is a functional bike with no asthetic as nice as a hand built bike as artwork? Message-ID: <4d.3b8be8cd.2d724da9@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: list Message: 1
If I am building bikes for people to move around in China and the needs are for it to be sturdy, reliable and cheap does my finished product have less merit than my next example
If I am a pro racer and I am trying to win for the sake of my career then I
want the lightest most functional bike that I or my team can afford. Is this bike less worthy than a hand made work of art.
If I am an old guy who doesn't ride much anymore who can pay almost any price for the bike of my dreams and I contract a hand made bike to my and the builders specifications is this bike better then the bikes above?????
Just a thought; I like bikes because they are fun they were fun when I had
my first department store bike with training wheels as a child, they were fun when I had a Schwinn Krate they were fun when I got a 10 speed, they are all fun (they all give you that smile to go ridding down the road with) I like bikes because they make me feel fast and free
Sam DiBartolomeo
Riverside CA