Thursday, February 27, 2014

Clean the stable?

Right now, my stable has 3 whips, along with 3 of my wife's bikes, and the kids' bikes. I am not sure if my oldest son's bike is in the house or not, and I think my youngest's is outgrown. There is also a kids fixie (with training wheels) somewhere around here, but it is something like a 12" tire size. (Solid, not pneumatic.) On top of this, my mother-in-law's bike is in the house too, after a crash last year. I do have an aluminium Cannondale at the local bike shop, it has issues. Good components, but it might need a new fork and stem. Really, I plan to sell it off, it isn't a benefit to me at this time, nor do I see it becoming one.

I found out that I can order Pure Fix frames from Bicycle Stop in Springfield, which is only about 45 minutes away, give or take. Bicycle Stop isn't my favorite shop, personally, but when I next plan to get a new jersey, they will be the first place I'll go. (Depending on my need, I have go-to bike shops in various order, starting with Parker's in Piqua for almost everything, Carty's in Sidney for older Schwinn parts, Family Bike Shop (Troy) and Tipp Cyclery (Tipp City) for random other things. I don't like ordering parts for the most part, and half of the tools I have bought at random, from a variety of the above places. (Last time I bought parts at the bike store in Huber Heights, the shop guy seemed annoyed that I was going to do the work myself, so I avoid there unless I need a water bottle, or I am taking my wife's car to the repair shop next door.

(I should mention Countryside Bike Shop over in Greenville, nice little newer shop, only been there once to pick up a new BB for my KHS. They had it in stock, which beat Performance Bike who didn't have it in stock. (That was a fun few days, I had to have the threads on the KHS redone at Carty's, and he didn't have the BB in stock. Arty (Parker's) was on vacation that week, and I hadn't gotten the Pure Fix yet, so I did some driving that week.

Springfield is a nice bike shop, and in a lot of ways, it rivals Performance Bike. It does have the downside most local shops have though, were you are not quite taken as seriously or as well taken care of if they don't recognize you as a real cyclist, and not somebody who will just say screw it and go to Walmart. Now, being that most of the bike shops around here know me, most to the point of knowing my first name on sight, I don't have that issue locally. Springfield is just far enough that I may only be there once or twice a year, and usually I am in the area for other reasons. (It doesn't help that they are closed on Sundays, which is the usual time I go to Springfield.)

Still, I am excited that I can get the Pure Fix frames (and the bikes...) from them for MSRP. This is great, even though sales tax is involved, because shipping is expensive, and I never have the money when the sales are going on directly from Pure Fix. I've had my eye on Pure Fix's Dual tube frameset for a while now, and the cost isn't bad. The problem was shipping here would be about half the cost of the frame. Now I can drive to Springfield, and give them $100 bucks, and pay the rest when it comes in a week later. (The rest being $10 because the frames are $110 and whatever sales tax comes up to. My county has the lowest sales tax in the area, but I think it would be another 7 bucks or something. They said I could just do half down and the rest later, my mind likes thinking in rounder numbers though.)

After that, the only big cost is the wheel set, and I have a few options for that. Still, I am running out of room in the house for more bikes, so I am thinking that I might have to sell another one, which sadly means that the vintage green Schwinn Varsity may have to go. Nice bike, decent upgrades, and not sure I want to sell it. Makes me wish I had a garage to put my bikes in...

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