Gingham and Floral

I have a new bicycle! I picked up this 6 speed bike from Reid Cycles with matching helmet for short trips to the shops and to tide me over until I can save up for the more upmarket bike that I have my eye on.

They are reasonably priced for entry level bikes. If you want a quick bike to get you out there and riding, but worried it won’t be worth investing in a bike in case you don’t do it as often as you think you might, this is the sort of bike I would recommend looking at. They are fun, come in a great range of colours, are light (great for hills and storage), and even come with a basket. I find having a bike that looks inviting is half the battle. This is an entry level bike, so it doesn’t come with lights or locks or skirt guards. The basket is extra and it does have a partial chain guard.

I had a few funny moments with the bike as I’ve only had it a week. My other bike has a skirt guard so I’ve had a few moments where I plan what I’m wearing out then it dawns on me that a long and loose skirt might not be the best idea and I have had to get changed. The bike was set up in store, clearly by a chap who rides road bikes. This meant that my butt was up level with my handle bars, and higher than my basket and I was leaning forward like I wanted to become more aerodynamic. See below image for illustration.

After taking the bike for a short spin to the nearest post box to send some letters and having my weight on the handle bars, the handlebars suddenly gave way. They hadn’t been tightened enough and I found myself with handles pointing towards the ground trying to steer a bike in traffic that has a heap of weight over the front wheel already because of the basket. I was suddenly all over the place. It was like trying to ride a wheelbarrow and lift the handles at the same time. Luckily I was going up hill so stopping was fairly easy.