I've been looking at sexy, sleek, fast new bikes online this week. Pretty and expensive aerodynamic things--lightweight road bikes in bright orange and yellow. And gorgeous, solid classics with leather seats and fenders but updated with high tech disc brakes. And touring bikes, of course, to satisfy my wanderlust. Since I can't actually exercise regularly right now, I can at least dream of it, right? And I was thinking that with my 40th birthday coming up I could justify buying one of these to celebrate. The Target POS I'm riding around right now isn't worth the scrap metal it's made of. It's clunky and slow and doesn't fit me well and the gears jump around while I'm riding it.
And then I began thinking about my old bike, shoved under the porch and covered with dust and cobwebs and dead bugs and leaves. I did some research and found out that Maggie Miyata is still considered one of the best touring bikes ever made. Not as good as the Miyata 1000, but apparently the frame on the Miyata 600 is every bit as good. Sightly stiffer, meaning it can haul more stuff, but with cheaper components. But they served me well 18 years ago. Except for a couple of flat tires, I never had a problem with this bike. I didn't even break a spoke. And OK, the handlebars got stolen, but that wasn't the bike's fault. I was like a guy in the throes of a midlife crisis, having my head turned by the hot new young things and not noticing the old reliable first love of my life. Well, second, I guess, since I met Brian before I got my bike.
So I called Race Pace Bicycles and told them I had an old touring bike I wanted to get back on the road and they said "good for you." So I'm taking it in tomorrow and depending on how much work it needs and if the parts are hard to find, I'll have Maggie up and running within a couple of weeks. I don't even care that much what it costs--replacing that bike with something similar would cost $1300, and any repairs I make will last years, so it's worth it.
3 comments:
YAY! I always liked that bike - maybe because it had a name - and it was the same name as my first car. I am glad you are spending money on overhauling it instead of trading it in for a younger, thinner model.
That's awesome old lady. Oh wait, I guess I hit 40 before you, which is something I want to talk to you about. PAR-TAY BAY-BEE. If your bike is beyond salvagable (doubful but possible) check craigslist. You can find great frames there with the makings of an amazing bike. If I were you, I would sit my nearly 40-year-old tushie on some other bikes. See how they feel and really test out the weight of the bike. You might find something you like better that may actually be cheaper than refurbishing. But I can tell you, there's a HUGE difference between a Target bike and a *good* bike. My bike is a hybrid and it's really light. Although it's not built for road-bike speed it does pretty well out there. Good luck, what an exciting venture. You'll make others turn their heads to look at YOU! :-)
Yay for you!! I looked at POS bikes this summer and was horrified at the prices -- I'm doing my refurbishment piecemeal but it's still coming out about the same price as a terrible bike. I grumble about the performance of the tires on gravel, but it's still a lot of fun to ride. And good bikes have more than doubled in price since I bought mine a decade ago. My bike would cost almost as much used as it did new, as far as I can tell.
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