4 posts tagged “bike”

I just can't seem to stop myself.  Whether it's looking on it for the cheapest fix or just browsing around for some uneducated junkie, I can't keep myself of ...Craigslist.  This guy Craig who made this thing was genious.  I wonder how, if any, does he make money off this thing.  I mean, I post and sell things for free.  Forget eBay and their seller fees, I sell stuff locally without the postage and in cash money.

Anyway, this isn't totally an addiction to Craigslist, it's also part an addiction to bikes.  It all happend about a year ago when I got my first bike of Craigslist, it was just a spiral of events after that.  So....wanna see my new bike I just picked up?  Yes, another one.

ProjectX

It's a 1992 Bridgestone XO-3 in very good condition, just a little dirty from storage, from this guy for $100 buckaroonies.  Yup, totally stoked.  I know what your thinking.  Why does this guy need another bike, doesn't he have like 3 now?  Yah, I have a mountain bike for offroad use, a folder bike for commuting, and this new 21 speed hybid Bridgestone that I plan on converting to a fixed/single speed beast.  It's basically a classic, they don't make these bikes anymore people, and I scored one with almost zero rust.  So...take a good look at this bad girl because in a couple of paychecks, I plan on transforming her into a streamline beauty.  I'm not too sure if I'm gonna sell her and buy another project or just keep her around to have my way with her.  Who knows? 

Go get a bike and you'll know what I mean.  Ride and let all the stresses of the day fade away into the fresh air and iTunes.

Stoooooooked again **singing happily**.  I got me another bike, but this time it's a folder.  With all these outrageous gas prices and the forecast for prices moving up to $5 a gallon by summer, I need broaden my options.  I would rather not catch the bus, but it seems like the only other option and with my new bike it makes catching it a little more fun to do.  Oh BTW, the type of bike I got is the 2008 Dahon Boardwalk S1 bike.

Before bike

I must admit that I thought these 20" wheeled bikes looked kinda dorky at first, kinda like a clown bike.  At least that's what I thought of whenever seeing one, then I started seeing more and more of these things around.  I decided to browse the web and noticed how a lot of people would change out parts and make these bikes look pretty cool.  For those of you that have never seen one of these things folded, here's an example. 

Before bike fold

How sweet is that?  It folds small enough to fit in the back trunk of your car or if you ride the bus, take it on the bus too.  Fully stocked like this, the bike weighs about 25lbs and that's chromoly steel not aluminium.  I'm not into all the mud guards and rack things so they're coming of as of now.  Now they have other folding bike brands like Bike Friday and Brompton but I kinda like the look of the Dahons and the price was within my range.

After bike

Here's how it looks for now.  A little more aggressive styling without the fenders and rack.  Eventually I would like to change out the seat post and seat to make it a little more lighter.  The handle post/bar  was going to be the first thing changed but was told by Dahon (through email) that I can't upgrade that part in this bike, kinda bummed about that and hope that they figure out some kind of adapter for it.  I've seen pics of other people who have cut the bar and placed a stem on the stock piece along with a new bar.  I just basically want a more agressive looking bar in black but we'll just have to see about that.  If anyone out there knows how I can tackle my handle post/bar problem please let me know.  Then of course I wanna change out the cranks just to give it a little more styling and again to drop some of the weight.    For now, I'm just stoked to have one.

So I went bike riding around my neighborhood.  It's around 9pm.  I go riding in an area that I don't really frequent because it's down the hill foo to the side.  Anyway, I get drawn to this street that I've never been down.  It looks interesting because it looks like it goes in a loop but I see a dead end sign.  SO...I go to turn around to head back out and only when I start riding out I see this kid out the side of my eye.  He looks to be around six or seven, but he's all by himself standing half on the driveway and half on the sidewalk.  His hands to his side, not saying a word, just contnetly staring at me.  What was strange was his age and the fact that it was a pretty dark street, with no one outside but that little boy, and not even his porch light was on.  Needless to say I'm not rude so I tell the kid "hey" in which I get no response but a blank stare.  Then something even stranger started to happen...it started to rain out of nowhere.  I looked at the sky before I went riding and it was clear.  Anyway, soon after I leave that area and ride to a higher level...it stops.  WTF?  Damn spooky ghost kid!

I'm soooooo STOKED!  I been looking for a decent bike for a good price on Craig's list for weeks.  Mind you, I only discovered Craig's List when my coworker, www.jusamee.vox.com, told me about it.  From that point I was hooked.  I ended up selling all kinds of stuff on there.  Everything I sold got responses within a couple of hours and I sold the items all within a day to the first person who checked it out.

Talk about many disappointing bids for some bikes. For example one lady in Kahala that I set up to meet with sold the bike 10 minutes before I could check it out.  Another time, I was in a bid war with the owner who decided to call it quits.   Then today some guy calls me back after I responded to his post 3 days ago.

So there it is.  My beautiful Specialized bike.  It was either a Trek (which I really wanted the 7.3fx), Cannondale, Gary Fisher, Giant, or a Specialized bike.  Did i mention that I became a bike officianado in a couple of weeks.  Anyhow, I was able to get a sweet deal on a Specialized Globe City bike.  It was kinda dirty and i didn't like the mud flaps and basket thing so I cleaned it up and took all that other junk off.  Now, it's a sweet ride that I'm about to test out right after this.  Yeeeeeeehaaaaaaaw!