Building a "flat pack" bike

The "bike in a box" arrives ...

Buying a bike - part four

So, after evaluating the various options, we went down the "new 'beater' to carry shopping" route.

Let's look in more detail at how we made that decision.
Remember, although the questions will be the same (or similar), your answers may be equally valid and very different than ours. You are buying a bike for you, not for us!

Buying a bike - part three

"But", you might say, "all the 'good' bikes at my local bike store have disk brakes and suspension, front, rear or both. Are you saying that these are not better than no suspension and rim brakes like my grandfather had on his bike? Has 'progress' led us nowhere? Are all these features just 'fashion'?"

Buying a bike - part two

So, having looked at some of our needs, it seems to be a good idea to look at bikes in general, what is available, and the sort of choices other folks have made. Which leads to the more general question: what bike is the "best"?

It is easy to flick through web pages of exotic, expensive cycles, and form the impression that the more one pays for a bike, the better it must be.
However, one must also think of the mode in which the cycle will be employed.
A lightweight, carbon-framed, racer with super-skinny tyres is hardly the best bike to go shopping on!

On pedals

Pedals, pedals, pedals.

Thirty years ago I used to have "cage" pedals