My new toy

I have been thinking about buying a bike for a while now, BUT, and there is always a but right? I was worried about ending up on the internet in a video titled "fat guy on a little bike" or something of the likes. Getting to the point I got past all that and decided that I would entertain looking around at a few bikes at a local bike shop yesterday to get a feel for what I might want if I were to get over this phobia of being too big for a bike and I talked to the fellow in the bike shop about a few different options and rode a couple around the parking lot and had my father pop off a couple of pics with my cell phone to see just how awkward I looked on these tiny skeletal contraptions that I have not ridden on since I was a youngster, I was ok with how I looked perched on top of the bike so a roadblock was out of the way. Upon entering all of the info that the bike shop fella gave me into my noggin I thanked him for all of his help (and he really did bring me up to speed on some things in the world of bike technology) and told him that I may be back in to order one of the bikes as he did not have the frame size on hand that fit me in the model that I was considering.

Onto a couple of different stores more just looking around and my father needed to pick up a few things and I walked past the bike section in a sporting goods store and a pretty beefy looking mountain bike caught my attention for a split second so I walked on over. The price tag said "Was $599.00, Now $319.00" and I thought that sounds good to me as it was around the price that I was looking for and I took it for a spin around the store and it fit better than the bike I was shown at the bike shop earlier. After riding it around a bit I decided to give wify a call and see how she felt about me pulling the trigger on this bike and she was game and said that it was ok with her and Happy birthday so off to get someone to help me out making sure the bike was working properly and it was mine, I snapped a couple of pics this morning and thought I would post them up, all of the photos are clickable for a larger view.

Here she is, the wheels are 26 inch and the frame is XLG and says that its for people that are 6'1'' to 6'4'', I am an inch taller than that but close enough.

Front angle view, I love the color on this bike for some odd reason, who wouldda thunk a tan bike could look nice?

Handlebar shot, I may need to adjust these up a little bit but we shall see.

Rear brake shot, I have never had a bike that had disc brakes on it so this is just cool.

Front disc brake shot.

Finally a shot from behind, over all I like the bike so far but as I said I haven't really ridden it yet but am looking forward to getting it out for a longer ride soon.

It is a K2 Zed 3.2, I did get a chance to take it on a quick spin immediately after unloading it from my car but it was damp out as it had just rained and my father was over so I did not go far and literally just played with the gears a bit and came back up to the house. A big part of why I picked this particular bike is that the frame looks and feels really heavy duty and for obvious reasons this is a benefit for me. I have not ridden it enough yet obviously so I cannot give a review of how I like or dislike it as of yet so I won't try to say anything past so far I like the look of the bike, its big so I do not feel crowded on it, the front forks have a suspension on it and the bike has disc brakes both of which are new to me and far beyond the 10 speed huffy I had as a kid. I am looking forward to getting some rides in and maybe getting some things like a water bottle and seat bag in case I end up going on longer ventures.

With that the end has come to another post and I have some things to do (like take a spin on the new ride before the rain starts) so this post shall end here, don't forget that H2O and today I leave you with a quote.

“Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... that’s what gets you.”- Jeremy Clarkson

As Ever
Me