My Friend's Bike

In my last post, I detailed my purchase of a bike from Bikesdirect.com. I also mentioned that a friend had ordered a bike from there on my recommendation, and that I'd be the one putting it together. Well, the bike has come, I put it together, and he's given it at least one test ride. It came looking about the same way mine came... crammed in a box & looking like anything but a bike!

Once put together, though, it was a gorgeous bike! I was almost a little jealous of it. I'm not a fan of "flat bar" bikes, but this one sure is handsome! It even has carbon-fiber forks... mine has Chromoloy.

Here's something I want to point out.  That's not a Mercier sticker or label of any kind.  It's painted on, and all of the graphics appear to be beneath a clear-coat.  These are gorgeous bikes!

It's pretty cool to see how my newfound enthusiasm for cycling has sparked interest in others.  The guy who bought this bike needed an adapter for the Presta Valves it came with, so I swung buy and gave him one (they were two for $1.50 at Academy Sports.)  While there, I re-tuned his daughter's bike which was in sad shape. It's an old Roadmaster, and every cable was just kinda' hanging there so loose they weren't doing anything.  After a few minutes of tuning, however, she was pedaling around like it was new!

A different friend asked if she could borrow a bike to ride while her grand daughter was visiting.  Since my new bike is actually too large for her, I lent her my old Schwinn.  I told her that, if she thought she'd use it, she could just have it.

A couple of days later, knowing she probably wouldn't accept my offer, I extended the offer to her via her husband. He confessed that he actually wanted to try out the bike & maybe take up riding, himself!  Now, my old Schwinn is in sad shape.  It's over 30 years old, after all!  So, hopefully, they'll enjoy it enough to prompt them to buy a bike or two from BikesDirect.com, too!  I wonder if they have a referral program!!!


I'm recovering from pneumonia, so I haven't put any miles on my bike in weeks.  I find myself just staring at it, though... like a kid staring at his toys from Santa on Christmas morning waiting desperately for his parents to wake up so he can dig in!



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These lovely pics were taken with this guy's little brother.
These are great sturdy little cameras that are super easy to use.
Many of my videos were made with this...