Dad's New Bike (before it began)

June 20, 2009

Thanks to all who contributed! Dad was talking a Toys-R-Us bike until I handed him the cash, then they went to a real bike store and got a really nice Cannondale. Ironically, Dad's out of pocket was higher than it would have been if we hadn't contributed, but from what I can ascertain, he basically fell in love with this one. They looked at some others which would have brought the cost down quite a bit, but this was what he liked.

It's a 29er--that is, it's a hybrid road/mountain bike with 29 inch diameter wheels. It has a mountain frame with thinner wheels, but they're not quite as thin as a road bike. It has rapid-fire gear shifting, instead of levers, with 24 gears (3x8). It has linear pull brakes (V-brakes) instead of the clamp style you find on road bikes. It doesn't have shocks, as this bike is designed for road and improved trail riding, but he had them install a seat post suspension, which makes for a smoother ride on Utah's less-than-smooth roads. He also had them install a bike computer which has an odometer, 2 trip distances, clock, elapsed time, current speed, max speed, and average speed.

Here are some photos from the first few minutes after he got it home.

Consider it a weapon to fight the evil pizza (as seen in his hand) ;)