Enjoying Opportunity
Jun. 19th, 2007 19:51![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillWhile I was driving out to the bike shop today, I was playing "spot the B box". These are the ubiquitous large metal cabinets next to the street, which are painted unassuming colors of grey, beige, or green, and which blend into their surroundings so well that they're functionally invisible. There's one every few blocks to serve the local area's telephone distribution needs... I managed to find almost all of the ones along my route across town, but with a couple of them I suddenly realized that the reason I couldn't see it was that I was staring directly at it. Thus, the game to spot the invisible.
I love my bike shop. No more patronizing attitudes, no more dismissal when they find out I don't have a cool/modern bike, no more impatience. The guy asked me whether I wanted him to do the work, and when I told him I had just brought the bike in so that he could measure stuff properly, he immediately set to doing that. New brake cables, new shifter cables, new sheaths for both -- and he explained how and why the sheaths were different between the two, and what that meant when fitting them -- plus sheath caps, and he even snuck crimp ends into the bag when I wasn't looking. He made sure I knew which sheath caps were which, too. He seemed happy to let me figure out how to install them on my own, given all the parts information, and was friendly throughout. This store may not be quite as extensive as the other one, but I'll take customer service any day.
So a couple of hours later, I had everything in place and took the bike for a few test drives while I tweaked the shifters a little. The new handlebars are preposterously wide and insanely comfortable; the odd thing is that this bike doesn't look bad when converted to a cruiser, no matter that it was sold as a mountain bike. The guy at the bike shop suggested that I find myself a cruiser seat as well, which I assume is the wider type, and I may do that. As it was, I finally raised the seat a couple of inches and adjusted the angle, so that my last test had my leg almost straight on the downstroke for maximum power, even as my arms were completely relaxed. That is what I was aiming for.
I forgot to get a cupholder (d'oh!) but otherwise this bike is completely ready to ride. The next thing to do is take it on an extended ride of several miles and see how I like it.
I love my bike shop. No more patronizing attitudes, no more dismissal when they find out I don't have a cool/modern bike, no more impatience. The guy asked me whether I wanted him to do the work, and when I told him I had just brought the bike in so that he could measure stuff properly, he immediately set to doing that. New brake cables, new shifter cables, new sheaths for both -- and he explained how and why the sheaths were different between the two, and what that meant when fitting them -- plus sheath caps, and he even snuck crimp ends into the bag when I wasn't looking. He made sure I knew which sheath caps were which, too. He seemed happy to let me figure out how to install them on my own, given all the parts information, and was friendly throughout. This store may not be quite as extensive as the other one, but I'll take customer service any day.
So a couple of hours later, I had everything in place and took the bike for a few test drives while I tweaked the shifters a little. The new handlebars are preposterously wide and insanely comfortable; the odd thing is that this bike doesn't look bad when converted to a cruiser, no matter that it was sold as a mountain bike. The guy at the bike shop suggested that I find myself a cruiser seat as well, which I assume is the wider type, and I may do that. As it was, I finally raised the seat a couple of inches and adjusted the angle, so that my last test had my leg almost straight on the downstroke for maximum power, even as my arms were completely relaxed. That is what I was aiming for.
I forgot to get a cupholder (d'oh!) but otherwise this bike is completely ready to ride. The next thing to do is take it on an extended ride of several miles and see how I like it.
