![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursamajorI was Very Good the first weekend of April, despite the Meta algorithm heavily pushing the Brompton C-Line Cherry Blossom 6-Speed at me for 72 hours, available online that weekend only, which is why I am wisting, even a little, a month later. I open Facebook, it appears in my friends feed multiple times. I open Instagram, it shows up right at the top before anything else, and when I go into my stories feed, it's inserted in there too. Even Messenger has shown me ads for the bike I've been thinking about since last November, but in a limited-edition, appropriately seasonal cherry blossom-adorned pink instead of the cherry-red one I got to test-ride.
Yes, yes, you figured out a perfect lust for me, congratulations. If only we hadn't had five digits worth of modern adult responsibilities to pay for last month atop the normal expenses of living, le sigh. I won't deny that I fantasized about gallivanting off to DC to pick up the pink one in person when Brompton did the grand opening of their new store in Georgetown.
Okay, logic brain, I know, this particular folding bike is not actually the travel bike for me, and yet, ooh shiny Pavlovian reaction?
I love my existing bike, but the limitations I'm bumping up against for travel with it are:
Planes: I know you can bring bikes on planes as oversize luggage, but you have to faff with some level of disassembly that goes beyond the levels necessary to just ... fold a folding bike. And I know it's an additional expense, but there is a hard-side case specifically for getting a Brompton safely through air travel. But it would still require checking luggage, which I haven't done in like 20 years now. But it would be amazing to go places and have a bike that I know fits me available for my use. I have tried city bike share in nearly 20 cities and I am too short for every single goddamned one. The only share bikes I was ever tall enough for were Lime's non-e-bikes and Uber's Jump bikes, and neither of them are around anymore anyway.
Trains: I can't bring my existing bike on Muni trains in SF because it doesn't fold, and sometimes, I don't want to have to bike all the way back uphill from the beach to Civic Center just to get on a train (or deal with slow buses). (Let's be real, bike and walk when it gets too steep. I did exactly that for Indie Bookstore Day last weekend, participating in SF Bike Coalition's Bikes and Books venture, but my three speed designed-for-the-flats bike is still not something I can ride up most hills with.)
Automobiles: Even trying to load my bike into the back of our sedan to bring down to our local bike shop for repairs is a stressful two-person exercise in "PIVOOOOOOOT!!!".
Thus: folding bike. And of the folding bikes I've gotten to try out, the Brompton C Line feels the most sturdy and highest quality.
Me trying to talk myself out of the continued wist:
- The handlebar options were Low or Mid, and I would prefer High for a more upright riding position
- They come in a lot of different colors I actually like better; this Matcha Green, for example, or deep Ocean Blue, or even the new Pop Lilac lavender.
- I could always buy cherry blossom stickers and apply them to said bike. Or sea otter stickers. Or bear stickers.
- It did not come with a back rack; obviously I would need to get one ASAP, as well as a pannier for it
- I would need to get a front basket or bag as well
- I should go talk to my very nice Local Bike Shop, as they carry Bromptons, and can probably help me put together one with all of the desired accessories and modifications.
There is even a subscription program, much like one leases a car, that I discussed with the Brompton salesperson back in November - if I wanted to subscribe for a couple of months, then decide to purchase, up to $500 of my subscription fee would be applied towards the purchase price of the bike.
Even so, this is all still separate from my cliched N+1 desire to have an e-bike to deal with Bay Area hills, and that should probably be my higher priority in terms of expanding my bike stable. I say ostentatiously, as if I currently own more than one decade-old three-speed bike.
At least my tee from the DC Cherry Blossom virtual 5k came in this morning; it is bright fuchsia af and putting me in good spirits. But it's still making me think that one of my bikes, in this still semi-nebulous future where I own multiple bikes - where I've found multiple bikes that fit stubby little me who usually falls right off the short end of the bike industry spectrum - should be pink.
Yes, yes, you figured out a perfect lust for me, congratulations. If only we hadn't had five digits worth of modern adult responsibilities to pay for last month atop the normal expenses of living, le sigh. I won't deny that I fantasized about gallivanting off to DC to pick up the pink one in person when Brompton did the grand opening of their new store in Georgetown.
Okay, logic brain, I know, this particular folding bike is not actually the travel bike for me, and yet, ooh shiny Pavlovian reaction?
I love my existing bike, but the limitations I'm bumping up against for travel with it are:
Planes: I know you can bring bikes on planes as oversize luggage, but you have to faff with some level of disassembly that goes beyond the levels necessary to just ... fold a folding bike. And I know it's an additional expense, but there is a hard-side case specifically for getting a Brompton safely through air travel. But it would still require checking luggage, which I haven't done in like 20 years now. But it would be amazing to go places and have a bike that I know fits me available for my use. I have tried city bike share in nearly 20 cities and I am too short for every single goddamned one. The only share bikes I was ever tall enough for were Lime's non-e-bikes and Uber's Jump bikes, and neither of them are around anymore anyway.
Trains: I can't bring my existing bike on Muni trains in SF because it doesn't fold, and sometimes, I don't want to have to bike all the way back uphill from the beach to Civic Center just to get on a train (or deal with slow buses). (Let's be real, bike and walk when it gets too steep. I did exactly that for Indie Bookstore Day last weekend, participating in SF Bike Coalition's Bikes and Books venture, but my three speed designed-for-the-flats bike is still not something I can ride up most hills with.)
Automobiles: Even trying to load my bike into the back of our sedan to bring down to our local bike shop for repairs is a stressful two-person exercise in "PIVOOOOOOOT!!!".
Thus: folding bike. And of the folding bikes I've gotten to try out, the Brompton C Line feels the most sturdy and highest quality.
Me trying to talk myself out of the continued wist:
- The handlebar options were Low or Mid, and I would prefer High for a more upright riding position
- They come in a lot of different colors I actually like better; this Matcha Green, for example, or deep Ocean Blue, or even the new Pop Lilac lavender.
- I could always buy cherry blossom stickers and apply them to said bike. Or sea otter stickers. Or bear stickers.
- It did not come with a back rack; obviously I would need to get one ASAP, as well as a pannier for it
- I would need to get a front basket or bag as well
- I should go talk to my very nice Local Bike Shop, as they carry Bromptons, and can probably help me put together one with all of the desired accessories and modifications.
There is even a subscription program, much like one leases a car, that I discussed with the Brompton salesperson back in November - if I wanted to subscribe for a couple of months, then decide to purchase, up to $500 of my subscription fee would be applied towards the purchase price of the bike.
Even so, this is all still separate from my cliched N+1 desire to have an e-bike to deal with Bay Area hills, and that should probably be my higher priority in terms of expanding my bike stable. I say ostentatiously, as if I currently own more than one decade-old three-speed bike.
At least my tee from the DC Cherry Blossom virtual 5k came in this morning; it is bright fuchsia af and putting me in good spirits. But it's still making me think that one of my bikes, in this still semi-nebulous future where I own multiple bikes - where I've found multiple bikes that fit stubby little me who usually falls right off the short end of the bike industry spectrum - should be pink.
