Cyclists blame "utterly ridiculous bike prices" for brands' ongoing struggles, after Giant's sales slashed again; Visma–Lease a Bike's cursed 2024 continues; Devastated Arsenal fan turns to... Lance Armstrong; Bargain hunting + more on the live blog
This, combined with sky high bike theft rates, are why I haven't had a bike in a few years now. Sure would love to get a nice e-bike and/or recumbent trike, but they're thousands of dollars that I would essentially be throwing away. (I live in a city. Anything not nailed down gets stolen. And even some things that are nailed down.)
I need something to help me along such as an e-bike or at least being recumbent due to a medical condition which makes my legs (and other muscles) weak. I used to bike around as my primary mode of transportation, but sadly can't do so anymore.
I bought an almost 30 yo mountain bike, a stump jumper from around 96-98 for 100€, renovated it for close to 400€ (spurgled a bit there), now I have a world championship super fun bike in perfect condition that probably will outlive me :-)
Specialized from that era are great. Still have my Rock Hopper from 2002. Replaced the front shock absorber with a fixed fork (no idea what the English word is) and some ball bearings here and there. Love it
My city invests a ton of money into cracking down on car theft and increasing punishments. They are not investing into bike lockers or even racks. It's usually a "too bad" even for thefts of high value bikes unlike cars.
Their website is absolutely atrocious, but I’ve had a steel Motobecane from them for years, and it’s showing no sign of stopping any time soon. Their bikes are cheap, and have good parts.