my new ride

I bought a bike today. I haven't had a bike since....college maybe? 20 years?

So yeah, I bought bike.

Lately I've been riding the little Oslo Bysykkler to work. Riding a bike ends up being faster than the bus much of the time and I get a little boost of energy from it as well. Plus I don't have to get shoved around by people on the bus, I HATE that.
The problem is, the Oslo Bysykkler aren't always available and I got tired of not being able to get one when I want. So I thought I would look in to buying a bike. Nothing fancy. I am not a sporty person so I didn't want a mountain bike or a sport bike. I wanted a "Dutch bike", you know, one of those easy step through bikes that you see women riding in Amsterdam. They pedal by in their flowery dresses with the basket full of bread or flowers and a bottle of wine. It just looks so European.

I went in to check out a few places and narrowed down the bike choices to either a Merida or a DBS. I thought I'd be ok with a 3 speed, but the 7 speed seemed a better choice as Oslo can be hilly. Also, the 7 speeds were a bit bigger, with big 28" wheels and a larger frame. They felt better than the smaller 3 speed ones. Either the Merida or the DBS were costing around 4500nok, which, in Norwegian terms is a cheap bike, but in American terms, that's around $750! I know people that paid that much for their first cars! I test drove a very comfortable Merida, a bit retro, white and black, and really liked it. But....wow. Expensive!

So I decided to think about it. 4500nok was more than I had budgeted (I was hoping for around 3000).

On a whim, on the way home, I popped into XXL, this kind of obnoxious chain sports store that is always chaotic, but does have lower prices.

And...they were having a sale. 30% off. On the EXACT DBS bike I wanted. (DBS, by the way, is a Norwegian bike maker, Den Beste Sykkel, so I am rather happy to have a little piece of Norway as my ride of choice.) As it was the end of the day I got pretty good service from a young man there (I'm 41 and about to start wearing bifocal glasses, I can use terms like "nice young man" now) and he went over the bike, made sure everything was working, and adjusted the seat for me, like, 12 times. I was probably a high maintenance customer, with my adjustment requests (seat lower, back, tilted differently, handle bars adjusted, etc.), but, hey, it was a one time chance to get it all perfect before I drove my new baby home.

Which I did. I got the DBS for 3000nok, my exact budget price, and they also had a sale on the helmet and the lock, so score for Karla. Just by checking out a different shop I saved $250 on the bike!!!