The very first bike that I bought in San Francisco got stolen less than three months after I bought it. It was a disappointing experience, but also a good lesson for me on how to protect my bike from theft.
The second bike that I bought (exactly the same model as the first one) stayed with me for four years and only recently it "disappeared" from the locked bike room at my work.
This second loss affected me even less than the first one, as I consider four years to be a reasonable lifespan for a bike in a such city like San Francisco. Though it is somewhat disappointing to know that one of the people who work in the same building as I, stole it...
Two weeks ago I bought myself a bike number three, as I need a bike for my commute to work. All my bikes I bought at Valencia Cyclery, which I just can not recommend highly enough. It is the best bike shop in San Francisco: the staff there is super-nice and super-knowledgeable, and they take time to help you make the right choice. I was always more than satisfied with their services, so if you need a bike, go and buy it from them!
My first two bikes were hybrids (crosses between road and mountain bikes) as I thought I would be biking more often on dirt roads. This time around I decided to buy a proper road bike as I realized that I hardly ever go off-road. The benefit of a road bike is that it is lighter and faster than a mountain or cross bike. With the help of the Valencia Cyclery staff, I chose a super-light carbon fiber Trek Madone 4.5 WSD bike, which looks more or less like this:
It is not black, but is as fast as light and I absolutely love biking on it. I also love how light it is and how easy it is to carry it e.g. up the stairs. So far I only used it in the city and I can not wait to try it out on a longer road trip. But before that happens I need to convince my husband to buy a bike for himself. It would be much more fun to go biking together with him.
Wish me many happy trips and luck in keeping it safe from bike thieves for as long as possible.
The second bike that I bought (exactly the same model as the first one) stayed with me for four years and only recently it "disappeared" from the locked bike room at my work.
This second loss affected me even less than the first one, as I consider four years to be a reasonable lifespan for a bike in a such city like San Francisco. Though it is somewhat disappointing to know that one of the people who work in the same building as I, stole it...
Two weeks ago I bought myself a bike number three, as I need a bike for my commute to work. All my bikes I bought at Valencia Cyclery, which I just can not recommend highly enough. It is the best bike shop in San Francisco: the staff there is super-nice and super-knowledgeable, and they take time to help you make the right choice. I was always more than satisfied with their services, so if you need a bike, go and buy it from them!
My first two bikes were hybrids (crosses between road and mountain bikes) as I thought I would be biking more often on dirt roads. This time around I decided to buy a proper road bike as I realized that I hardly ever go off-road. The benefit of a road bike is that it is lighter and faster than a mountain or cross bike. With the help of the Valencia Cyclery staff, I chose a super-light carbon fiber Trek Madone 4.5 WSD bike, which looks more or less like this:
It is not black, but is as fast as light and I absolutely love biking on it. I also love how light it is and how easy it is to carry it e.g. up the stairs. So far I only used it in the city and I can not wait to try it out on a longer road trip. But before that happens I need to convince my husband to buy a bike for himself. It would be much more fun to go biking together with him.
Wish me many happy trips and luck in keeping it safe from bike thieves for as long as possible.