I have been shopping around for just the right bicycle to purchase. I had thought about spending just a couple hundred dollars and getting a bicycle to start riding just for the sake of having a bike. I thought this would be a good idea since a lesser quality bike would be much heavier than an actual high end touring bike would be, so I would (in my head) have to work a little bit harder while riding thus increasing strength and mass in my legs just a little bit sooner. Also, it would give me time on a bicycle while I saved up enough cash to make the big purchase...upwards of 2,000 USD! Yup…I even found a bicycle that had a price tag of just over 7,000 USD! Needless to say, after seeing what I would have to spend on a bike to have a positive, less exhausting ride, and reduced vibrations while riding 70-100 miles a day, I was VERY depressed. I was ready to call the whole thing off and admit defeat. How could I come up with that much money in time to purchase the bicycle AND still have at least 9-10 months to train? Then there is the issue of actually finding a high quality bicycle that was actually small enough to fit me…size really does matter!
Anyhow, I started off at the big Dallas bike shops like Richardson Bike-Mart. Not only was I disappointed in the high prices (these guys are the MOST expensive of all the places I explored) it took almost half an hour to find someone who would actually stop and answer some of my questions. One person actually walked away from me when I said that I wasn’t looking to purchase that day, but was doing research so that I could make an educated purchase in the next “few months!” Yup! Just said that he “didn’t have the time” to spend with me because there were “regular customers” in the store! As you might have guessed I will NOT be spending ANY of my hard earned dollars in that store!
The other shops I visited were MUCH more courteous and helpful, but the trend seemed to be to “hard sell” the Specialized line of bicycles…those are the ones with the high dollar price tag. I explained that line of bikes, though very nice to look at, was just too far out of my price range. Most said that was “really the bike I should be shopping for.” That is until I walked into Dallas Bike Works (6780 Abrams Road # 107 Dallas, TX 75231 214.341.8921) I met the owner and he was REALLY great to work with. He answered ALL my questions, gave me 100% of his time and steered me in a different direction. He showed me a line of cycles that were of exceptional quality while not being overly inflated in price. Actually the bikes he recommended for me were priced at less than 1,300 USD. I was impressed with this guy. He listened to my financial needs and didn’t try to hard sell me on anything! The only problem, he didn’t carry the bikes in my size and became wishy-washy when I asked if he would order the bike in my size when the time came. This seemed to be a reasonable request to me, but….
So, taking his advice I began researching the Jamis brand bicycles. (www.jamisbikes.com) A family owned business based out of Fountain Valley, California (my old stomping grounds) and while they have the technology and quality, they aren’t in the business of overpricing their products NAME as is the case with most of the other big dogs in the bicycle world! I love the way they look, and their steel touring bike still weighs less than 27 lbs which I find remarkable. To quote their catalogue, “If you want to experience the cyclist’s version of backpacking you’ll want an Aurora, arguably the last of the true loaded touring bikes. Our Auroras use legendary Reynolds chromoly steel, with air-hardened 631 in the Aurora Elite with our SST frame design so every size rides like it was custom-built. Aluminum might be lighter, but that half-pound you’d save is nothing on a big our, and steel’s smoothness won’t leave you fatigued the way you’d be after 100 miles of aluminum road buzz. Load up an Aurora and you’re ready to hit the road for weeks on end.” Needless to say, I’m sold on the Aurora bike! Now, I just have to find another dealer. Let the adventure begin!
