Bicycling
Written on Monday, August 11, 2008 at 1:27 PM by jkeyes0
I've decided, for quite a few reasons, that I would like to start bicycling to work. I used to own a NeXT mountain bike and gave it to my dad a few months ago because I hadn't used it in quite a while. Well, wouldn't you know it, as soon as I gave away the bike, the craving to ride (and the high gas prices) hit me.
I avoided the subject as much as possible, because with the upcoming baby, we really don't need any extra expenses, then I remembered that I had some spare cash laying around (birthday money from the parents and a gift card from Boomertowne), so I started searching for the "perfect bike".
I'm going to stop right here and say, I'm not a bike aficionado or a amateur/pro cyclist, so I don't believe I should have to pay upwards of $1000 for a commuter bicycle. The cheapo Walmart bicycles generally work well for me.
Along that same line of thought, I ended up going to Walmart and purchasing the NeXT La Jolla Cruiser Bike
As I said before, I had owned a NeXT mountain bike, and it wasn't horrible, so I figured it would be worth a try. It is lightweight (~28lbs, aluminum frame) and comfortable, with a padded seat, but with only one gear and pedal breaks, it was a bit awkward riding around my subdivision. We have lots of hills, which means gears or some form of propulsion are necessary. I rode around for probably 2 miles, then I quickly returned this bike for a full refund.
My second choice was the 700c Men's Mongoose Paver Commuter Bike.
I read rave reviews on bike forums and on Walmart.com about this bike, calling it a great value and an excellent bike for commuters, which I aspire to become. I threw the bike in the back of my truck, took it home and tried it out. The gears were misaligned, so somewhere between 3rd and 4th gear it slipped, skipping a gear. Not a big deal, I could have fixed it, but as it turns out, instead of my subdivision being only hilly, it's more like a sinkhole... every hill used to get out of the subdivision is way more steep than I could comfortably pedal. I managed to make it about 4.5 miles total on this bike, with over half of that being uphill, before I decided that it was a futile effort. I'd never be able to ride to work without being covered in sweat and stinking all day.
My third (and hopefully final) choice is the E-Zip 2008 Mountain Trailz Hybrid Electric Bike.
I would have gone with the non-mountain version of this bike, but Walmart is so sporadic with their stock on these, the mountain version was all that I could find at the time. Really, the only difference I can tell is the mountain version has knobby tires (easily replaced), and possibly a slightly different gear system (both made by Shimano though). It's a battery powered bike with a top speed of 18mph and a range of 15 miles (I think up to 25 miles with pedaling). I live approximately 6-7 miles from work, so with a partial charge during the work day (the battery is removable) I should be good to go, even if I don't pedal at all on the way in to work.
The bike was a bit more expensive than I wanted to go, but if it can keep me from driving my truck to work everyday, it should pay for itself within the year. Assuming I don't absolutely kill the battery, it will hopefully last for a while as well. The bike is shipping to my local store and I should be able to pick it up in the next week or two. I'll post a full review after I get it and give it a good tryout.
