I’ve got a backlog of stuff to talk about from last week’s legendary “retarded week”, and I figured I’d kick this off with the bike news.
We decided to get Riley a real bike with pedals last week. He’s been scooting around on this thing called a “Runner”, which is a two-wheeler, but has no pedals. He can balance himself just fine on it, and he’s outgrown it so it was time for a new two-wheeler with pedals.
We went to the Exton bicycle shop. I’m opposed to shopping at mainstream chains for bikes. I’m also of the opinion, whether it’s insane for the duration that they’ll be riding it or not, that kids shouldn’t be relegated to cheapie 8000 pound bikes found at Toys R Us plastered with ridiculous stickers, tassels, and baskets. Kids need a good, solid bike, and that’s what I aim to shop for.
At the store Riley immediately found a Specialized bike that fit him and suited his tastes. It didn’t have a hand break, which might have been nice, but we thought he’d be ok. It’s yellow with spider webs on it. They told us they would prep it and have it ready for us the next day.
When I returned to pick up his bike, I did a little shopping of my own. I already have a pretty decent mountain bike, but I was looking for something new. I’ve had BMXes when I was a kid, and I see stuff on TV - kids doing tricks on bikes and such - and I think it would be fun to learn that stuff. So I started looking at the BMX bikes.
There wasn’t much variety in frames they had available, but there are enough variations in the configurations to make a difference. The gear ratio is the first significant difference. My new bike, an Eastern “Battery”, has a low ratio, so it’s not as easy to get up to high speeds, but it offers a bit more control. I have both front and rear hand brakes, so I can do tricks (potentially) by stopping on one wheel. The brake is configured so that I can turn the handle bars freely and not tangle things up, so I can do some related tricks with that.
The seat on the bike is really low. I’m not sure if I’ll get a seat extender. I’m not actually spending much time sitting on the bike anyway.
Getting a bike isn’t really the most fantastic news, but it’s interesting to me – Being out on the bike and trying to do things with it is invigorating. And it gives me a chance to hang out with Riley a bit while he’s riding his new bike, which he seems to enjoy.
