In The Garden of Cycling Shoppers Delight

By Luxo-D

So many choices, so many brands...what do I do? Help me Oujia-Wan, you're my only hope.

It seems like, but isn't, but it seems like, everywhere I look, people are talking about or thinking about buying a bicycle. Oh sure, there is no shortage of chatter about the subject. The constant droning on about this bike, and that frame, or that drive-train, and so on and so on. It is almost like there is a kind of sickness out there that makes people blather on about what they want to get. And believe me, talk is most definitely CHEAP.

A rational person would never allow this kind of velo-consumption to go beyond the idle browsing. No. For them it's on to the next thing, lawnmowers, vacuums, TV's. But we're not talking about "rational" people are we...no we are not. We're talking about a person with a kind cycling perversion that goes outside of common day shopping norms. Indeed, a trained psychiatrist would deem these types of cycling shoppers, borderline "Institutional." However, there is more than meets the eye...

There are basically two kinds of cycling shoppers in ME uneducated opinion. The first one, is the dude that shows up at every cycling in shop in town, looking at this that and the other thing, only to be confronted by a hopeful shop clerk desperate to make a sale, only to be brushed off with these depressing words..."Thanks, I'm just browsing." The second shopper, is the notorious "Online" guy, searching and searching in endless agony to seek out a deal no matter where. Whether it's ebay, Craig's List, or any number of online cycling discount sites - retail price shall never be paid, EVER! Fortunately, yours truly here, has found the happy balance between them all...

Catalogs.

Yes catalogs! I love them! They are everything a shopper could want in an experience. Beautiful, glossy, large, well photographed pictures of beautiful cycling machines, displayed in perfect settings, and posed in the most enticing angles to maximize the shopping experience. With brief descriptions of all the different models, accented with juicy tid-bits of personality for all sorts of different types of riding needs. As well as, elaborate and detailed specifications, of component options, to contrast and compare...eh hem. Excuse me, I seemed to be getting a little flush writing about this...

So, in conclusion...a well informed bicycle shopper is a happy bicycle shopper. No matter where you buy. Good luck.