Off Target

I realize I am probably not the best person to give bike-buying advice; I failed in my attempt to get a new bike a few months ago. But I still think I can give some general guidelines.

There's a guy in my office - think Dutch 2.0 - who has been asking me a lot of questions about triathlon lately. He's thinking about doing one and I, pretending to be supportive, have been giving him whatever advice I can. I offered to take him to Bicycle John's (a very tri-friendly bike shop) during lunch sometime so he could get a feel for all of the gear that's involved.

Well he came into work this morning and told me "guess what? I bought a bicycle this weekend!" I thought that was kind of a fast decision, but if he wants to dive right in so be it. Then he told me about his new bike: $99 at Target. I wanted to beat him senseless right then and there. (Good thing I didn't try, I don't think I could take him.) I can almost understand paying $99 for a bike if you found an old one on Craig's List and you just wanted to give cycling a quick try to see if you liked it. But going to Target for a new bike to do a triathlon? No way.

Fortunately, he got what he paid for. He told me that he took the bike for a spin and after a few miles the seat started to wobble. Either he's too fat (no), or the bike is just too cheap to hold itself together. He's returning the bike, and has promised to go through more... legitimate... channels for his next bike. Now I just need to get him fitted for a lead wetsuit and some cement running shoes.