My New (To Me) Bicycle

Two years of constant exposure to the elements had taken a toll on my bicycle.  Not to mention that it was an older used bike when we bought it at a garage sale a few years ago.  We are not big bicyclers, but it is very handy to have bikes at times for tooling around the campground, riding into a nearby town, on the occasional rails to trails path, or even on a hard-packed beach.

Gary had started looking online at bicycle reviews and at manufacturers’ websites.  We stopped in a few bike shops and test rode a couple models.  I was about ready to think I was going to get a brand new bike.  But new wasn’t in the cards.  I did get a major upgrade in used quality however.  This time, I was upgraded from a garage sale bike to a Craigslist bike!.  And this one cost more than ten times more than what the last one cost.

What did I get?  It is a Specialized Expedition Sport with twenty one speeds.  I certainly don’t need 21 speeds, but in order to have gearing that will get me up a hill a whole lot easier, it is necessary to have them.  My old bike only had five speeds and on much of any kind of hill I found myself off the bike walking it up.  I am not keen to walk hills or ride hills and I sure don’t need to be walking my bike up hills.

The bike appears to be in great condition with very little use.  It is largely made out of aluminum so hopefully it will weather a little better than the old one which was largely made of steel.  Even at a Craigslist price, we bought it for about 25% of the price of a new one.  With all the sun, rain, salt and dust that we exposure our stuff to, it really does make good sense to buy used.   Now if only Gary could find a good buy on a “new” one for himself.