Monday, October 17, 2011

My Blog, Your Kindle

I am feeling pretty tech savvy. This will not last long.  You can now get my blog on your Kindle.  There is a fee set by Amazon but not very much. Search for us in the Kindle store under blogs.

Cool Bike Stuff is Really Expensive

My New Gloves, My Big Splurge
I think that had I been in a bike shop before I started riding, I probably would not have started.

I went out to bike store to buy gloves for riding and thought I would browse the gear and new bikes and refine my wish list.  I have no good reason for wanting a new bike but that I am an american consumer and my bike is really old. I do have a really good reason for wanting some bike accessories, especially the bags that will help me transport all the stuff a toddler and a mom needs to get through the day.

I knew that this bike stuff was expensive but I was not prepared for how much things cost.  Wow.  It was pretty intimidating. I saw a green bike that I liked, I just thought it looked cool, it cost over $1,000. I did not even look close enough to see what it was all about, like if it was a street bike or racing bike or any of that stuff. I looked at a bike on the sale rack.  It was about $800.00 off but it still cost over $3000.00. It looked pretty fancy, more then I would need but I have to admit I was not prepared to see that price tag.

If I had a bike that cost that much, I am not sure how comfortable I would be leaving on the street.  I would be much more worried about it being stolen and that would take some of the fun out of biking.

I confirmed that the bags that I need (want) to transport stuff are about $165.00 plus the tax will cost me almost $200.00.  I am glad I was able to salvage the rack that the bag attach to, that rack costs about $60.00 new.  That $260.00 just for the rack and the bags and if you add a cheap bike lock you have dropped $300.00 and you do not have a bike.

I left the store with bike gloves.  They were $36.00 and I have a 30% off coupon.  I am glad I have the gloves and I am sure if I had the bags my riding would be easier and I would be happy I had them. I do not want to buy them and it would be very had to part with $200.00 in exchange for sacks to carry stuff.  I admit, nice sacks that are well made but still sacks.

To follow up, I look around on the internet and found bag for about 60.00 at Target.  Not as cool as the 200.00 set-up but I am not trying to prove anything here.  I also think it is worth looking for used stuff.