Last fall, at the very end of the cycling season, I purchased this beauty.
Sometime in the middle of the summer, I decided that commuting to work on my old blue mountain bike was getting kind of lame. I started the online hunt for the perfect bike... and decided on a
Specialized Daily Globe. Sadly, this bike was unavailable to me except in an electric shade of silver. No thanks. I waited patiently for the 2013 models to be introduced... and discovered that their colour combinations were, again, disappointing.
Then, BOOM! I was casually breezing through
Trek's website and I found
the perfect bicycle! It had one single speed, a steel frame, lots of room for fenders, a bottle opener built in to the frame (I shit you not), and it was
pink. It was love at first sight.
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| It has a bottle opener! |
I ordered it immediately and it arrived in two weeks. I rode it to work and around the city until early October, when we were hit with an early snowfall. I tweaked it a little before hanging it up for the year. The clanging chain-guard had to go and the low-end Bontrager saddle was quickly replaced with a spare we had lying around the garage.
And now, in mid-April, we are officially declaring spring in Northern Alberta. To celebrate, I put the final touches on the Earl this afternoon.
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| A thing of beauty |
Now it's fully loaded and ready to hit the streets. The fenders work great (there are still quite a few puddles around), those Specialized grips are a significant improvement, and yes, that is a
Brooks saddle.
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| Dreamy, right? |
I really really like this bike. It's amazingly simple with its steel frame and single speed (flip-flop hub in case I ever feel like riding it fixie-style... as if). But it's fast, too. And maneuverable. And fun to ride! And it looks good.
As an added bonus, it turns out that this bike, not Bruce's cruiser, is the perfect pregnancy bike. On the cruiser, I felt like I was continuously kneeing myself in the belly (the kid didn't appreciate this). The Earl is comfortable, light, and difficult to crash. Needless to say, however, I am looking forward to getting "back to normal" post-baby and riding this sweet unit around town, along with my other bikes.
Please don't run me over!
