Thursday, September 23, 2010

It Had to Be Orange, and We're Back to Square One.....

When I decided a couple of months ago to spend one of my little nest eggs on a new bicycle, I didn't realize how incredibly complicated the process was going to be. I had an idea that I would buy one of two brands, both of which make bicycles specifically designed for women.

I investigated both, I visited bike shops, I talked to sales people (at least the ones who didn't speak in a techno-geeky language way above my head), and I researched on the internet. I finally decided on a particular model that actually came in a color I liked (it's not like you have limitless choices, like cars) and went to the bike shop with a  modest wad of cash in hand.

I didn't realize it was the end of the model year (who knew?) and they had no more of the model I wanted. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. The very nice salesman told me to give them a call periodically to see when the 2011 models were available.

Instead I watched the internet like a hawk. Every day I clicked on the manufacturer's website, and every day I was disappointed. Until today. I first noticed some very subtle changes to the sidebar, and then I realized the 2011 models were posted. I could just feel that new bicycle underneath me already.

I went straight to the same one I had chosen in last year's model, only to find that this year it is available in......

.....orange.

I don't DO orange. I don't have orange clothes. At a rest stop on the 68-mile bicycle ride last weekend, I admonished Katydid for eating cheese puffs. Because they are orange. I only drink orange juice because it is in fact yellow in color. On BRAG last summer, I almost refused to ride in my nephew's wife's car when she drove up because it was orange. But I gave in, since my only other options were driving the RV to a little restaurant downtown or riding the bicycle I was pretty tired of being on.

I freaked out a little bit at the orange color, until I discovered that this model mercifully comes in a choice of two. That's about the maximum number of choices you have in bicycles. The alternate color scheme is black and white with red accents.

Now there's a color combination I can live with. I called the bike shop, ready to get this process underway, only to find out that bike doesn't come in a triple. I won't go into what a triple is or why I'm hell-bent on having one, but it has a lot to do with gears and my being old and slow and being passed going up a hill by a 75-year-old woman who was WALKING her bike.

So now I'm back to some of the same choices I thought I had already come to grips with. With which I had already come to grips. Whatever.

Do I go with another brand to get a color combination and the carbon fiber I want AND a triple?

Do I give up on the concept of having a women's specific bicycle and ride what the boys ride?

Do I (again) let them talk me into believing that a compact crank is just as good as a triple, when six years of riding a bike with a compact has demonstrated otherwise?

Do I abandon my color obsession and go with one of the popular schemes for 2011, most of which involve the color teal? Yuck.

It's not like I have to decide tonight, but I have already sold my current bike (thank you for allowing me to keep it just a little bit longer, Sara!), and I want a new one before it gets too cold to ride.

And I have to know what color it is going to be before I buy all the accoutrements that go with it.

Guys have it so easy. They don't care what color their bikes are. Or if the accoutrements even match at all.

2 comments:

KatyDid53 said...

I can't ride with you if you get an orange bike. WE don't do orange! It will clash so badly with my pretty red one! Why can't they put a triple on the black/white/red one? Isn't that what I did 15 years ago with my pretty red one?

Maggie said...

Don't compromise on your needs of the bike, get the orange one and then take it to an auto detailing shop and have it painted any colour you want! (but call first and make sure they can professionally paint a bike like they can a car!)